Nashville Predators GM David Poile spoke with Ryan Suter and Shea Weber this morning and let them know the biggest news in the NHL this week. He signed goalie Pekka Rinne to a 7-year deal, worth $49 million.
"They're ecstatic," Poile said during a Thursday afternoon conference call to announce the signing. He also tabbed Rinne as the goalie who can anchor a Predators team he expects to consistently challenge for the Stanley Cup in the coming years.
To read more on the impact of the Pekka Rinne signing become an ESPN Insider.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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