It’s official. After much anticipation and rumors, the Nashville Predators have inked Filip Forsberg to a new eight-year, $68 million deal securing his future in Music City.

“We are very pleased to announce Filip’s signing today,” says Predators General Manager and President of Hockey Operations David Poile. “As one of the best offensive players in our history, we are thrilled to have Filip as a part of our team for the next eight seasons. His talent, competitiveness and leadership are critical to our future as we continue to strive for our goal of winning a Stanley Cup.” He continues, “We believe that Filip, like Pekka Rinne before him, and like our captain Roman Josi is doing now, will write a legacy with the Predators that fans will remember forever. Additionally, we’d like to wish Filip and his fiancée Erin all the best as they get married later this month. We appreciate having them both in our Smashville family for the next eight years.”

Forsberg is the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer with 220. This new deal will keep him in with the team through the 2029-30 season and carries an annual average value (AAV) of $8.5 million.

“I couldn’t be happier to spend the next eight years in the same city I’ve called home since my NHL career began,” Forsberg shares. “My fiancée Erin and I love Nashville, but we also strongly believe in the future of our team and know we can accomplish big things moving forward.” He adds, “I’d like to thank the Predators organization and David Poile for helping us get this deal done. Now, it’s time to work toward our ultimate goal of bringing a Stanley Cup home to Nashville and the best fans in sports.”

The Swedish native was originally drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round (11th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft. He has played all of his 566 career NHL games with the Predators after being acquired from the Capitals on April 3, 2013. The 27-year-old also ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders with 41 game-winning goals (tied for first); 58 power-play goals (second); 469 points (fourth); and 249 assists (fifth).

Forsberg appears at the top of the Predators’ record books in several other categories, including hat tricks (7), 20-goal seasons (7), multi-goal games (32), three-point games (30) and consecutive games played, a 283-game run that spanned parts of four seasons from 2014-17.

Since making his NHL debut on April 14, 2013, he has represented Nashville in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game, earned a spot on the 2015 NHL All-Rookie Team and has been named one of the NHL’s Three Stars of the Month twice. Forsberg was the first player in Predators history to record consecutive 30-goal campaigns in 2015-16 and 2016-17, and this season, he became the first Nashville player to record multiple five-point games in his career.

He posted the best statistical season of his eight-year NHL career in 2021-22, establishing career highs in goals (42), assists (42) and points (84) in 69 games. In addition to finishing second on the Predators and tied for ninth in the NHL in goals, Forsberg also tallied his 211th career goal on March 19 against Toronto to pass David Legwand for the most in franchise history.

Forsberg also owns multiple team Stanley Cup Playoff records, including most goals with 29 and points with 53.

The Nashville Predators have officially dropped their schedule for 2022-23 and will kick off their 25th NHL season by participating in the 2022 NHL Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic, taking on the San Jose Sharks at the O2 Arena on Oct. 7-8.

The Preds will return home on Oct. 13 to play the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena for their home opener. They’ll finish out the opening month of the season with five more games, including home matches against Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Washington from Oct. 18-29 with a one-off road trip to Columbus on Oct. 20.

November will feature 14 games with eight scheduled at Bridgestone Arena, the most home games in a single month on the 2022-23 docket. The month begins with the Preds taking a five-game road swing–the second-longest of the season–with stops in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle before the trip ends with a Nov. 10 showdown against the defending Stanley Cup champion, Colorado Avalanche.

The schedule shifts back to Tennessee as the Preds will play eight of the final nine games in November at Bridgestone Arena, starting with a season-long five-game homestand from Nov. 12-21. Nashville will take on the New York Rangers, Minnesota, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay and Arizona during the homestand, its longest in a traditional schedule since 2019-20.

A trip to Detroit on Nov. 23 precedes three more November home games, including the first of 11 scheduled back-to-backs coming Nov. 25-26 against Colorado and Columbus; the month concludes Nov. 29 vs. Anaheim.

December also will see the Predators play 14 games, six of which will be in the form of back-to-backs, beginning with contests at New Jersey and the New York Islanders on Dec. 1-2. Nashville will then travel to Tampa Bay (Dec. 8)–Ryan McDonagh’s first game back in the city where he won two Stanley Cups.

Nashville kicks off 2023 by taking on Montreal at home on Jan. 3 before embarking on another five-game road trip from Jan. 5-12 with games against Carolina, Washington, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. Following the road-heavy start to January, the Predators will play five of their next six games on home ice, taking on Buffalo, Calgary, Los Angeles, Winnipeg and New Jersey from Jan. 14-26 with a road trip to St. Louis scheduled on Jan. 19.

The Predators will play 10 times in February, including a stretch of four games in 10 days to begin the month, with contests against Vegas (Feb. 7), at Philadelphia (Feb. 11), Arizona (Feb. 13) and Boston (Feb. 16). A relatively light travel month, Nashville will play its first of two home-road back-to-backs on Feb. 18-19–home vs. Florida and on the road at Minnesota–before rounding out February with two games at Bridgestone Arena on Feb. 21 vs. Vancouver and Feb. 28 vs. Pittsburgh and contests at San Jose (Feb. 23) and at Arizona (Feb. 26).

March is both the busiest month overall and on the road for the Predators in 2022-23, featuring 16 games total with 10 away from home. The month begins with a season-long six-game road trip from March 2-12 that spans 11 days and will see the team go coast-to-coast, with contests against Florida, Chicago, Vancouver, Arizona, Los Angeles and Anaheim. After completing its final trip out west, Nashville returns home for three games against Detroit, Chicago and Winnipeg from March 14-18 and heads back out on the road at the New York Rangers (March 19) and Buffalo (March 21).

Nashville will take on a Central Division opponent in four of their final seven games of the regular season, starting with a noon contest against St. Louis on April 1. Following a road-home back-to-back on April 3-4 (at Dallas and vs. Vegas), the Predators host Carolina on April 6 and play their final two games away from home on April 8 at Winnipeg and April 10 at Calgary. Nashville concludes the 2022-23 regular season at home on April 13 against Minnesota.

Bridgestone Arena ranks third in the United States for ticket sales and fourth in the world for gross ticket revenue, according to Pollstar‘s 2022 Second Quarter Industry Report.

The report states that Bridgestone Arena grossed $40,967,713.3 in revenue and sold 397,795 tickets. The arena ranked 11th in Pollstar‘s 2022 First Quarter Worldwide Top 100 Arenas, grossing $11,609,408 in revenue and selling 147,587 tickets.

Serving as the home for numerous national and international events, Bridgestone Arena has the distinction of being one of the busiest venues in the United States over the past decade and a half. A nominee for the Pollstar Arena of the Decade, Bridgestone Arena has 13 consecutive Pollstar Arena of the Year nominations, winning the award in 2014 and 2017.

Bridgestone Arena and Nashville Predator’s Executive Vice President David Kells was awarded the 2021 Pollstar Executive of the Year earlier this year.

Pollstar Magazine focuses primarily on the concert industry and reports on news regarding sports and entertainment. The nominating committee is comprised of industry leaders in all facets of the entertainment business, including arena managers, artists, artist managers, agents and promoters from across the country and abroad.

After previous reports from Sportico and Axios, the Nashville Predators have officially announced that former Tennessee governor Bill Haslam is buying the majority stake in the organization’s ownership group from current chairman Herb Fritch.

Discussions have proceeded smoothly, and definitive documents are being drafted, according to the Predators.

Upon the execution of definitive documents and securing all necessary approvals within the organization and the NHL, Haslam is expected to become a minority owner in the next few months. Within the next few years, through a multi-phased purchase transaction, Haslam will become the club’s majority owner.

“From the time our ownership group, made up of day one season ticket holders, gathered together in 2007 to purchase and guarantee the franchise’s future in Nashville, the goal has been to ensure that stewardship of the team is in strong local hands,” says Sean Henry, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Predators and Bridgestone Arena. “The pending addition of Governor Haslam to the ownership group solidifies that local stewardship for years to come, with the shared philosophy for making Smashville the most unique sports market in our league and country as our players and coaches compete for the Stanley Cup each season. We are excited and appreciative that he has agreed to join the ownership team.”

In December of 2007, Predators Holdings LLC purchased the Nashville Predators and Powers Management–the management company that operates Bridgestone Arena–and assumed control over the day-to-day operation of the National Hockey League team and Bridgestone Arena.

Fritch currently serves as Chairman of the Predators, a position he assumed in January 2019, succeeding Tom Cigarran.