Predators Sign Bourque to 6-Year, $33M Deal
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Nashville Predators signed center Mavrik Bourque to a six-year, $33 million deal with a $5.5 million annual cap hit running through the 2031-32 season, three days after acquiring him as a restricted free agent.
- Mavrik Bourque recorded 20 goals and 21 assists in 82 games (15:29 average ice time) during his second full NHL season, jumping from a $950,000 one-year deal in Dallas to $5.5 million annually in Nashville.
- Dallas Stars traded the negotiating rights to Bourque and veteran defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin ($3.25 million cap hit) for Nashville's 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-rounder originally acquired from Vegas in the Cole Smith deal.
- Stars GM Jim Nill said Bourque was "a casualty of the cap world," explaining that Dallas couldn't fit his next contract: "You can't fit everybody in. It's just part of the business."
- Bourque is now tied with Jonathan Marchessault for the third-highest cap hit among Nashville forwards.
- The move is the biggest swing yet from new Predators GM Chris MacFarland, who replaced Barry Trotz after coming over from the Colorado Avalanche.
Why it matters: Nashville locked in a 24-year-old center coming off a 41-point season at a $5.5M cap hit — reasonable money for a player Dallas admitted it could no longer afford. The deal marks new GM Chris MacFarland's first significant roster move since replacing Barry Trotz, and shedding Lyubushkin's $3.25M hit was the real priority for the Stars.
