The Nashville Predators are making sure they keep Viktor Arvidsson around, re-signing the forward who made the second-biggest scoring jump in the NHL last season to a seven-year deal worth $29.75 million.
General manager David Poile announced the deal on Saturday night, hours after the team and Arvidsson went to arbitration. Arvidsson will count $4.25 million against the salary cap through 2022-23 after a 45-point scoring improvement from 2015-16 in his first full season with the Preds.
Only Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was named league MVP, had a bigger scoring jump last season, eclipsing his 2015-16 total by 52 points.
Arvidsson tied linemate Filip Forsberg for Nashville's in goals with 31 and matched Ryan Johansen for the team lead with 61 points. He led all Nashville forwards with a plus-16 rating and also led the league with five shorthanded goals.
During the playoffs, Arvidsson had 13 points in 22 games during Nashville's run to the franchise's first Stanley Cup final. The 24-year-old Swede has 39 goals and 38 assists for 77 points in 142 NHL games, all with the Predators.
Arvidsson was the 112th pick overall in the 2014 draft. He led Nashville's rookies with eight goals and eight assists in 2015-16 and scored the game-winning goal to force Game 7 against San Jose in the 2016 Western Conference semifinals.
Associated Press
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