Nashville, Tennesee-The Predators have been busy this month patching up the roster after a busy June left the roster in a shambles. Particularly hard hit were the defense corps, as only three players have remained from last season. GM David Poile continues with his "bigger and stronger" theme by signing two big defensemen, and re-signing Denis Arkhipov and Wade Flaherty.The Predators finalized the Arkhipov deal by giving him a three year deal. He is scheduled to make $1 million this season, followed by $1.2 million next year, and $1.4 million in the 05-06 season. Poile listed pressure from teams in Russia as the reason for the long term contract, even though the collective bargaining agreement runs out next year. ''He wanted to be committed to us and we wanted to be committed to him, so why go through that pressure on a year-to-year basis? As we've said, we do want to be as flexible as possible when it comes to the new CBA. But when the time arrives and it makes sense to extend the contract for one of our players, I'm open to that option,'' said Poile. With Denis being signed, the Predators have two more restricted free agents to sign in defenseman Kimmo Timonen and center David Legwand.
Wade Flaherty signed a one year contract. He was in uniform for the Predators' last thirteen games. In keeping with team policy, the terms of his deal have not been released. He has played in 119 NHL games over 12 seasons, after being selected by Buffalo at the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Flaherty played for Florida's AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, before being brought in to backup Tomas Vokoun.
As a possible replacement for some of the departed D-men, the Predators re-signed Robert Schnabel and signed free agent Ray Schultz. ''They're two big, aggressive players,'' Poile said. ''Schultz has always been on the bubble with the Islanders, and he was impressive enough that they gave him a one-way contract last year. Schnabel's big and strong, but has never really been given much of a chance. Schnabel (6-5, 233 lbs) scored nine points while leading Milwaukee with 178 penalty minutes in just 62 games. Schultz (6-2, 200 lbs) scored ten points in 51 games while piling up 105 penalty minutes for Bridgeport of the AHL. He also racked up 28 penalty minutes in four games with the New York Islanders.
