A week shy of turning 31, Tomas Vokoun has a fat contract and some nice numbers to back it up. He’s exactly what Florida needs after a year in which the team nearly made the playoffs with a late-season push without former one-man show Roberto Luongo.

A lot is being made of this deal being the one sure sign Nashville is set to head whole hog into dismantling its roster, but given the year Chris Mason had and Vokoun’s $5.7-million, four-year deal, why not move him for prospects and picks and hand it to his understudy? The real sign of a mass cost-cutting campaign for the Predators will be in their willingness to wade into the free-agency waters for key cogs like Paul Kariya, who has stated his willingness to return to Tennessee next season.