Predators sign O'Reilly to four-year, $18M contract; add Nyquist on two-year deal
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The Nashville Predators have signed veteran centre Ryan O’Reilly to a four-year, $18 million contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.
O’Reilly, 32, finished the 2022-23 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after being acquired, along with forward Noel Acciari, from the St. Louis Blues for forward Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, and three draft picks on Feb. 17.
The 6-foot-1 centre recorded 16 goals and 30 points in 53 games last season split between the Blues and Maple Leafs.
He also added three goals and nine points in 11 playoff games before the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in five games during the second round.
Drafted 33rd overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 NHL Draft, O’Reilly has 256 goals and 702 points in 991 career games split between the Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres, Blues, and Maple Leafs.
The Clinton, Ont., native won the Lady Byng Trophy in 2014, the Selke Trophy in 2019, and helped lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup championship in 2019 where he was named the Conn Smythe winner.
He is coming off a seven-year, $52.5 million deal he signed with the Buffalo Sabres in July of 2015.
O’Reilly has represented Canada six times at the IIHF World Championship where he led his country to back-to-back gold medals in 2015, 2016 and claimed a silver medal in 2017. He recorded 17 goals and 38 points in 55 appearances at the tournament.
He also represented Canada and had 10 appearances at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey en route to a first-place finish.
Preds add Nyquist
The Predators have signed forward Gustav Nyquist to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $3.185 million.
The veteran centre played 51 games split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild last season, recording 11 goals and 27 points.
The 33-year-old was traded from Columbus to Minnesota prior to the NHL trade deadline in exchange for a fifth-round pick.
Nyquist is coming off a four-year, $22 million contract he signed with the Blue Jackets in 2019.
The Halmstad, Sweden, native has played 703 games in his NHL career with the Wild, Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks, scoring 175 goals and 428 points.
He was originally selected 121st overall by the Red Wings in the 2008 NHL Draft.