Predators sign Josi to 8-year extension worth over $72M

The Nashville Predators inked star defenseman Roman Josi to an eight-year contract extension with an average annual value of $9.059 million, the club announced Tuesday.

The deal includes a full no-movement clause for all eight years and $33.75 million in signing bonuses, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Josi will become the third-highest-paid blue-liner in the NHL behind Erik Karlsson ($11.5 million AAV) and Drew Doughty ($11 million AAV) when his new pact takes effect in 2020-21.

The 29-year-old captain is in the final campaign of a seven-year, $28-million deal he signed with the Predators in June 2013.

Josi is coming off a 56-point season and has already racked up 13 points in the first 11 games of 2019-20 while leading the Predators in ice time.

He averaged 52 points over the previous six campaigns.

Nashville currently has about $2.5 million in cap space and nine pending unrestricted free agents, including forward Mikael Granlund.

Copyright (C) 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.