The Nashville Predators didn’t wait long to secure their latest acquisition. The Predators signed center Jack Drury to a five-year, $22.5 million deal, four days after acquiring him, keeping him under contract through the 2030-31 season with an average annual value of $4.5 million, Yankee Scores reports.
The Deal
The contract will have Drury earn $4 million in 2026-27 before jumping to $4.625 million annually over the final four years.
He also has a no-trade clause for the first three years of the deal, with modifications in the last two years. With that signing done, Nashville has just under $20 million in cap space to work with, according to Puck Pedia.
The #Smashville signed recently acquired 26 y/o F Jack Drury to a 5 year $4.5M cap hit contact
Yr 1: $4M Salary
Yr 2-5: $4.625M SalaryFull NTC Yr 2-3, 8 team NTC Yr 4-5
Deal covers 1 RFA & 4 UFA seasons
Rep’d by Pat Brisson @CAAHockey https://t.co/CTf8fYvxcs
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 28, 2026
The Trade That Started It
Drury was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for forwards Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov, along with forward Chase Bradley and a third-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft.
It was the first signing of new Predators GM Chris MacFarland’s tenure, a reunion of sorts since MacFarland acquired Drury when he was GM in Colorado.
A new chapter begins 🤝
We’ve signed forward Jack Drury to a five-year, $22.5 million contract.
Full details » https://t.co/LpAf6A6cDB pic.twitter.com/SvFq4UEesz
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) June 28, 2026
Who’s Drury?
The 26-year-old center had a career-high 10 goals last season, and tied his career best with 27 points in all 82 games for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche. He also won 58.1% of his faceoffs, fifth-best among players who took at least 900 draws in 2025-26.
“Jack Drury is a hard-working, reliable, full-sheet of the ice center that can handle the tough assignments while being elite in the faceoff circle,” he told ESPN. He added that Drury’s influence extends beyond the ice, saying he’s a culture changer and that his impact on Nashville’s young players – including Brady Martin, Egor Surin and David Edstrom – is hard to put a price on.
Drury is the son of former NHL center Ted Drury and nephew of New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury. Nashville is counting on his pedigree, defensive reliability and faceoff dominance being just what a rebuilding team needs in the middle.
