The contract is a two-way deal this season and in 2018-19, worth $650,000 in the NHL and $70,000 in the American Hockey League. It becomes a one-way deal in 2019-20 worth $700,000.

Gaudreau, 24, played eight games in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Predators, beginning in the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks. He scored three goals in the first four games against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final, which the Predators lost in six games. Gaudreau was the second player in NHL history to score three goals in the Final after never scoring in the NHL before. The only other player to do so was Chicago Black Hawks forward John Harms against the Montreal Canadiens in 1944.

Gaudreau made his NHL debut againt the Penguins on Oct. 22, 2016. He had one assist in nine regular-season games, and 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists) in 66 games for Milwaukee of the AHL.

Gaudreau signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Predators as an undrafted free agent on Jan. 5, 2016.