Delayed Closure

As the NHL Draft and NHL Free Agency periods approached, Nashville GM David Poile actively tweaked the Preds roster. The moves today and earlier during the 4th of July Holiday Weekend put some closure on two of those moves. Today’s signing of Sergei Kostitsyn wraps up Nashville’s trade with Montreal from last week. At the time the Preds traded pending free agents Dustin Boyd and Dan Ellis to the Canadiens in exchange for pending restricted free agent Sergei Kostitsyn. The trade also included future draft pick considerations in the event players didn’t sign with their new clubs. However now that all three players involved have signed NHL contracts – Boyd with Montreal, Ellis with Tampa Bay, and Kostitsyn with Nashville – the draft pick considerations all washed out. Kostitsyn gives the Predators an extra element of skill and creativity from the wing; a young forward with dynamic offensive capabilities. (full analysis) --Jay Levin, NashvillePredators.com

Nashville, Tenn. (July 6, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed restricted free agent Sergei Kostitsyn (SAIR-gay kaws-TIHT-sihn) to a one-year contract worth $550,000. Kostitsyn was acquired from Montreal in exchange for forward Dustin Boyd and goaltender Dan Ellis last Tuesday, June 29.

Kostitsyn, 23 (3/20/87), posted 18 points (7g-11a) in 47 contests during his third season at the NHL level with Montreal in 2009-10. In 155 career NHL contests over the past three seasons, the 6-0, 210-pound left wing has amassed 68 points (24g-44a), in addition to 49 points (15g-34a) in 55 American Hockey League games. Kostitsyn has also suited up for the Habs in each of their last three playoff appearances, putting up eight points (3g-5a) in 18 games.

A native of Novopolotsk, Belarus, Kostitsyn represented his country at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, leading the Belarusians in points with five (2g-3a) in four games. He played a pair of seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights after being Montreal’s sixth selection, 200th overall (seventh round), in the 2005 Entry Draft, amassing (66g-143a) in 122 games. He led the league in assists in 2006-07, en route to being named a Third-Team OHL All-Star.