The Nashville Predators have re-signed right-handed defenseman Alexandre Service to a three-year contract price $3.75 million per season. The 27-year-old has 233 video games of NHL expertise together with the postseason, all with Nashville.
Service, who had 20 factors in 73 video games in 2023-24 together with a plus-7 ranking, was utilized at even power and the penalty kill very often however seldom obtained possibilities on the ability play. Why is that this signing a very good one?
Service Is a Good Second-Pairing Defenseman
Averaging 18:48 of ice time final season, Service is a second-pairing defenseman. He has been strong for the Predators just lately, as he has some nice on-ice stats. From 2021-22 to 2023-24, his 2.53 anticipated targets towards per 60 (xGA/60) and 51.4 anticipated targets proportion (xGF%) ranked within the seventy fifth and 54th percentiles respectively among the many 132 defensemen who’ve performed at the least 3,000 minutes at even power in that span.
Service has graded out effectively in all three zones, as he’s a legitimately well-rounded participant. His 5-foot-11, 174-pound body won’t appear all that nice for a defenseman, however his lack of measurement is offset by his precise play on the ice. He has good imaginative and prescient, will get concerned offensively, and is sound defensively. With what number of pluses there are to his recreation, there isn’t a lot to be skeptical about.
Associated:Â 2024 Free Company Tracker
It doesn’t look like Service is the kind of participant to have his recreation age poorly, so he needs to be efficient for a short time longer. Objectively talking, he was one of many extra underrated defenders within the league final season and has remained so for fairly a while.
Match with Nashville
With the departure of Ryan McDonagh again in Could, Nashville wanted to retain a few of their protection. Service provides them a dependable possibility of their prime 4 together with Dante Fabbro, Roman Josi, and Brady Skjei, who they signed on July 1. They spent a ton of cash on the primary day of free company, however they’re attempting to be aggressive in a robust Western Convention.
Service will seemingly proceed to hold out the identical function that he did in 2023-24. This isn’t essentially the most jaw-dropping signing, however it will get the job achieved on the finish of the day. Nashville retained an essential piece of their roster right here for comparatively low cost. Now, it looks as if they’re achieved making splashes and are able to roll for an thrilling 2024-25 marketing campaign.
