The Nashville Predators avoided arbitration with forward Viktor Arvidsson, who signed a seven-year, $29.75 million contract on July 22 (average annual value of $4.25 million). Fletcher said he would like to sign Niederreiter and Granlund to comparable contracts, if possible.
"I would expect these would be similar," Fletcher said. "Hopefully we can find a solution on a long-term basis, and if not, we always have the hearing to fall back on and we can revisit it in a year or so."
The Wild also need to sign forward Marcus Foligno, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres with forward Tyler Ennis and a third-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft on June 30 in a trade for forward Jason Pominville, defenseman Marco Scandella and a fourth-round pick in 2018. Foligno did not file for arbitration.
Foligno, Niederreiter and Granlund can each sign a contract with the Wild for up to eight years, but Fletcher hasn't offered more than five, according to the Star Tribune, which reported Niederreiter and Granlund each is seeking a long-term contract worth more than $6 million per season.
"We're open to any angle," Fletcher said. "I guess anything's possible, but somewhere in that 3-5-year range would probably work well for everybody. That's not to preclude a longer deal, but that's not where the focus has been on our end."
