Pages

Monday, May 14, 2012

Since coming on board with the Nashville Predators in the 2003-2004 season, Jordin Tootoo has been one of the most recognizable athletes in Music City. His thundering hits and his fighting were a big reason for his popularity with the fans in Nashville when Tootoo started his career, and that popularity has grown ever since.

With the 2011-2012 Predators' season now in the history books, Nashville will now focus their attention on their impending free agents. Tootoo is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and many have speculated on whether or not the Predators will attempt to re-sign him.

Tootoo is coming off of the best season of his career from a statistical standpoint. He recorded a career high in points with 30,which is 12 points higher than his previous career high of 18 in a season. He also played in 77 regular season games for the Predators this past season, which is the highest amount of games that he's played in his NHL career. It wasn't all good for Tootoo, however.

Over the last 15 games that Tootoo played in the regular season, he registered just a single point and had a plus-minus rating of minus-eight during that time. His poor play over the last part of the season cost him a chance to really prove himself in the postseason. Tootoo played in just three games in Nashville's 2012 Stanley Cup Playoff run and failed to register a point.

How will Tootoo's up-and-down season affect his future status with the Predators?