Fire Sale In Nashville Continues, Except For The Team Itself
The Nashville Predators are still busy dumping salaries, this time trading star goalie Thomas Vokoun to the Florida Panthers for an array of 2008 draft picks. While surprising to some extent, the Preds still have breakout netminder Chris Mason to rely on. Mason actually put up slightly better numbers than Vokoun after filling in for him during a stint on the injured list.
But while they continue to downsize the payroll, current owner Craig Leipold has requested that the NHL halt all activity in favor of Jim Balsillie's bid to buy the Nashville team until a final agreement is reached. The current deadline is June 30th for a binding deal on the sale. While this doesn't mean the sale is off, it does indicate that Leipold is wary of Balsillie's not-so-subtle intention to move the Predators to Hamilton, Ontario as soon as the 2007-08 season.
Could the Predators end up staying in Nashville? If so, what then? They'll be missing some key stars and have only eventual draft picks to show for them. It could be years before they're a legitimate post-season contender again. Oops.
