The Nashville Predators have brought back one of their young goaltending prospects, re-signing Marek Mazanec to a one-year, two-way deal worth $575,000 at the NHL level.
Mazanec, 23, made his big-league debut during the 2013-14 season in the wake of Pekka Rinne’s hip injury, getting significant minutes in tandem with Carter Hutton. The Czech netminder earned NHL Rookie of the Month honors for November that year and finished with a .902 save percentage and 2.80 GAA, but then spent almost all of this season in AHL Milwaukee with Rinne and Hutton filling the Preds’ No. 1 and 2 spots.
Mazanec did appear in a pair of games for the Preds this season, allowing just four goals on 47 shots.
With Rinne and Hutton both under contract for next season -- the latter’s heading into his final year, the former’s locked in through 2019 -- Mazanec will probably spend next season as a workhorse in Milwaukee, and on-call for spot duty in Nashville.
