David Poile wants to keep Predators' roster intact

Contract discussions between the Predators and the pending free agents they're interested in retaining are "ongoing," general manager David Poile said Friday.

Of the six unrestricted free agents currently on Nashville's roster, the team intends to part with four of them: forwards Matt Cullen and Mike Santorelli and defensemen Cody Franson and Anton Volchenkov.

That leaves veteran centers Mike Ribeiro and Mike Fisher, both of whom Poile wants to re-sign before the free-agent market opens and other teams can make them offers.

"All bets are kind of off when you get to July 1," Poile said. "In this particular case, both players want to play here, we want them here, we just haven't agreed on (terms). But on July 1, everybody can talk to you and something could change."

The concern in committing to Ribeiro and Fisher, according to Poile, "is that the two Mikes are both 35 years of age." Ribeiro's agent has informed Poile that another one-year contract "would be unacceptable," while Fisher's camp believes that a two-year extension is "probably the right number for everyone involved."

"I think that they both had terrific seasons and I don't see why they shouldn't have terrific seasons next year," Poile said. "But I don't have the crystal ball as to how far that they can go to play at the level that they're playing.

"And that's all part of the negotiations. ... Historically, Father Time is working against those guys to a certain extent, so it's all part of the negotiation."

As for the Predators' five restricted free agents — forwards Colin Wilson, Craig Smith, Calle Jarnkrok, Taylor Beck and Gabriel Bourque — Poile has not yet committed to extending qualifying offers to all of them in order to retain their rights.

Regarding Wilson and Smith, who combined for 43 goals this past season, Poile is thinking long term.

"That's what we've talked about with both agents," he said. "Four years, something like that, probably makes sense. I can't crystal-ball what's going to happen. What I want, what they want, it could be two different things, but as we're starting out, that's what we're working towards."

Poile doesn't expect to be active in free agency, instead focusing on keeping his current roster virtually intact.

"Right now, I feel like we've made so many changes in the previous couple of years that bringing back almost the entire roster is the right thing to do," Poile said. "I think they performed as a team at a very high level. I think the chemistry that we had on the team was very good. ... I really feel that everybody's got an upside on our team.

"We came so close this year. We were (the) No. 1 team in the league three-quarters of the way through the season, faltered a bit in the last quarter. I thought we got it back together in the playoffs, didn't quite get it done, but I'd like to give everybody a chance to see where we are for another year. I just think that we've got pretty good chemistry right now, so I don't want to tinker too much with our team."

Reach Adam Vingan at 615-259-8023 and on Twitter @AdamVingan.