Nashville, Tenn. –
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has signed forward
Steve Sullivan to a two-year contract worth a total of $7.5 million.
Sullivan, 34 (7/6/74), has posted 190 points (73g-117a) in 191 points with the Predators since being acquired by the club on Feb. 14, 2004. He has helped lead Nashville to four playoff appearances in five seasons and a 110-60-21 record in that span. Just two weeks ago, the 5-9, 173-pound right wing won the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy given “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” becoming the first Nashville Predator to win an NHL award.
Sullivan returned to the Predators lineup on Jan. 10, 2009 vs. the
Chicago Blackhawks after missing 142 straight regular-season games and 11 more playoff contests due to a back injury sustained on Feb. 22, 2007 vs. Montreal. Six-hundred eighty-seven days passed between games for Sullivan, whose return made him just the third player in the post-World War II era to miss more than 600 days due to injury, then return to action (joining
Jim Peplinski, Calgary and
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh). He registered his first point in 154 games in the second contest of his return – Jan. 13, 2009 at Toronto, and netted his first goal in two years on Feb. 18, 2009 at Detroit.
After starting his 2008-09 season with just five assists in his first 15 games, the Timmins, Ont., native rounded into form in mid-February, and notched 27 points (11g-16a) in the final 25 games of the season. Nashville went 22-14-5 with Sullivan in the lineup in 2008-09 vs. 18-20-3 without him.
Originally a ninth-round selection (233rd overall) of New Jersey in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, Sullivan has posted 609 points (239g-370a) in 764 games over 12 seasons with New Jersey, Toronto, Chicago and Nashville. He was acquired by the Predators from Chicago on February 14, 2004 for a second-round selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft (Ryan Garlock) and a second-round selection in the 2005 Entry Draft (Michael Blunden).
