The Predators have started preliminary discussions regarding a potential contract extension for starting goaltender Pekka Rinne, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported in an appearance on NBCSN.

Rinne is in the final season of a seven-year, $49MM contract and in that time, he has established himself in the upper echelon of goalies around the league while he is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. However, he turns 36 next month which means any new deal is going to carry a little bit of extra risk due to the 35-plus designation.

Nashville also has Juuse Saros in the fold, locked up on a three-year, $4.5M contract. He has long been viewed as their goalie of the future and some had wondered if they might be considering beginning that transition this season. These talks would seemingly put that idea on hold though.

Looking ahead to next year, the Predators shouldn’t have too much difficulty fitting a new deal for Rinne. They have a little over $64M committed to 17 players for 2019-20 per CapFriendly and don’t have many other expiring contracts of note (wingers Kevin Fiala, Ryan Hartman, as well as center Colton Sissons are the other regulars in need of new deals).

While that would make a one-year extension feasible, their payroll situation gets a little more complicated in 2020-21 when defenseman Roman Josi and winger Craig Smith are eligible for unrestricted free agency. Locking up those two will cost a fair bit more than the $8.25M they’re currently receiving; new deals for them and a multi-year pact for Rinne could push Nashville near the $70M mark for just 13 players (not including new deals for Fiala, Hartman, and Sissons) which will push them very close to the salary cap once they fill out the rest of their roster.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Nashville GM David Poile tried to get Rinne to go year-to-year to mitigate some risk and create an opportunity to do bonus-laden deals to help navigate the salary cap concerns. However, at the same time, it’s hard to imagine that Rinne would forego a shot at the open market without some sort of multi-year commitment from the team. With talks at the early stage, there’s still a long way to go but this should be an interesting negotiation to keep tabs on in the weeks and months ahead.