NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators have signed forward Nino Niederreiter to a two-year, $8 million contract in their biggest free agency move since keeping forward Filip Forsberg off the market.
General manager David Poile announced the signing Thursday.
The 29-year-old Niederreiter had 44 points in 75 games with Carolina last season and ranked third on the Hurricanes with 24 goals. He has scored at least 25 points in nine of his 12 NHL seasons. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound forward also has played for the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild, with 181 goals and 187 assists in 732 games in his career.
The native of Switzerland won silver medals with Predators captain Roman Josi at the 2013 and 2018 World Championships. Niederreiter also played with Nashville center Ryan Johansen with the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL. Niederreiter's best scoring season came in 2016-17 with 57 points with his 25 goals, one off Mikael Granlund, again a teammate in Nashville.
Niederreiter was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft. He made his debut with the Islanders during the 2010-11 season and wound up playing 64 games over two seasons with New York. He played six seasons with Minnesota where he scored 228 points in 434 games.
Niederreiter has played in each NHL postseason since 2014 and has 15 goals and 15 assists in 82 playoff games. He finished second with four goals in 14 games for Carolina this last postseason.
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