Rinne won't be traded by Predators, GM says

Pekka Rinne will not be traded by the Nashville Predators before the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline on April 12, general manager David Poile said Tuesday.

The 38-year-old goalie is in the final season of a two-year, $10 million contract (average annual value $5 million) he signed with Nashville on Nov. 3, 2018 and this week told The Athletic he wants to retire as a member of the Predators.
"That's my plan, and Pekka echoed that is his plan for him to retire here," Poile told 102.5 The Game on Tuesday. "That would be great, but not today. He's got [many] more games to play. I'm not going to be telling him when it's time to retire. He is playing very well for us right now."
Rinne has played his 15-season NHL career for Nashville, which selected him in the eighth round (No. 258) of the 2004 NHL Draft. He holds Predators records for wins (366), goals-against average (2.44), save percentage (.917), shutouts (59) and games played (679).
The 2018 Vezina Trophy winner voted as the best goalie in the NHL is fifth in games played among active goalies.
"Pekka is the face of our franchise and he's been such a great, great player for us," Poile said. "Having him in there almost every night when we were at the top of the League and, of course, all the stuff he does off the ice, it's just fabulous."

Four seasons since playing in the Stanley Cup Final, the Predators (12-16-1) are sixth in the eight-team Discover Central Division and could miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2013-14, and fourth time since Rinne made his NHL debut Dec. 15, 2005. The top four teams qualify for the postseason.
But that hasn't deterred Rinne from wanting to stay in Nashville.
"I believe in this team," Rinne said in remarks published Monday. "I do want to retire as a Predator.
"For sure, I want to have success. I've been fortunate that we've been, for most of my career, doing pretty well. For the [most] part, we've never been sellers at the deadline. Obviously, I don't want to go through that. This is the team I want to retire [with]."
Rinne is 7-11-1 with a 3.09 GAA, .899 save percentage and one shutout in 20 games (17 starts) this season, including 2-4-1 with a 4.10 GAA and .879 save percentage in seven starts since Juuse Saros sustained an upper-body injury March 2. Rinne made a season-high 38 saves in a 4-1 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
"I thought it was funny in his interviews or quotes last night that he is getting too old to play all these games and it's been three years since he had played eight in a row," Poile said. "He's cheering for Juuse Saros to get back in the mix, I guess you would say. Again, just a terrific goalie, terrific person."
Predators coach John Hynes said after the game that Saros should be available for a two-game set against the Florida Panthers beginning Thursday but emphasized how much Rinne has meant to Nashville, which is eight points behind the fourth-place Chicago Blackhawks.
"It's so valuable to have him in and around our team, particularly where you have some young guys in the lineup," Hynes said. "I mean, here you have a guy that his jersey is going to be retired, he's one of the all-time best [Predators] and he's won a Vezina Trophy ... and he's playing every night, the way he goes about his business, the way that he practices, the way that he competes, win or lose the game, he's a special person. He's a special person to the organization, but I think what he's even doing now, he's going to have a legacy with future Predators, for sure."