Niederreiter_CAR

Nino Niederreiter signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Nashville Predators on Thursday. It has an average annual value of $4 million.

The 29-year-old forward had 44 points (24 goals, 20 assists) in 75 regular-season games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season and five points (four goals, one assist) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"I'm super excited," Niederreiter said. "Playing against them in the past was always hard, they are a very passionate fan base, very loud. Playing for them this year is going to be a lot of fun, knowing all the teams coming into the building and knowing how tough it is to play there, it is definitely going to be a lot of fun."
Selected by the New York Islanders in the first round (No. 5) of the 2010 NHL Draft, Niederreiter has 368 points (181 goals, 187 assists) in 732 regular-season games for the Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild and Islanders. He has 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 82 playoff games.
Niederreiter is from Switzerland, as is Predators captain Roman Josi.
"Nashville was definitely very high on my list," Niederreiter said. "Knowing Josi and a bunch of the other guys made it a lot easier to come to Nashville. I think Nashville is such a great city and I'm very excited to go there."
The Predators (45-30-7) were the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference last season. They were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
"I love scoring goals and I think there are a lot of great goal scorers in Nashville," Niederreiter said. "I think for my particular style of play, I think I'm very good around the net and I think that's something that was missing there in the past and something that I can bring to the table and find a way to get those greasy goals, I would say."
Nashville signed forward Filip Forsberg to an eight-year contract on July 9, goalie Kevin Lankinen to a one-year contract on July 14 and forward Zach Sanford to a one-year contract on July 15. The Predators also acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 3.
"I think we are very close (to winning the Stanley Cup)," Niederreiter said. "When [the Hurricanes] played against Nashville two years ago (in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs), we had a really hard time beating them. They are such a competitive team. They skate very hard they are very physical and hard to compete against. I think we had a really hard time and I think this team is not very far on going on a really great run."