Will Nashville Sign Their Stars?

Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal answers a few emails, Do you think Nashville Predators general manager David Poile has the money to sign both Shea Weber and Ryan Suter? If not, when does he trade one or the other? What?s up with Alexander Radulov?

A: The Preds are a salary-cap floor team. They?ve positioned themselves well to keep their No. 1 defence pairing, with Suter likely in the same range as No. 1 goalie Pekka Rinne (seven years, $49 million) and Weber maybe $7.5 million a year for six to eight years. Suter?s agent, by the way, is old Edmonton Oilers? Battle of Alberta nemesis Neil Sheehy, the Calgary Flames blue-liner. Weber, the Predators captain, has a higher profile than Suter, although they?re both world-class players. Suter is arguably the best U.S.-born defence-man in the game today and actually plays a few seconds more a game on average than Weber. I don?t see them trading either defenceman. T

he Predators have the youngest team in the NHL and, while they have a few contracts that are possible head-scratchers - David Legwand is $4.5-million-a-year cap hit, same for Martin Erat - they generally watch their pennies.

I wouldn?t be a bit surprised if Radulov, the best player in Russia last year with 80 points for Ufa, returns to Nashville next season. He?ll have to play the last year of his Nashville contract that was in place before he hiked off to Russia - that?s less than $1 million a year. I think he realizes he needs to be back in the best league in the world.

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