NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Nashville Predators captain
Scott Walker, who has revolutionized his game in Music City, has
signed a contract extension, the team announced Tuesday.
Terms were not disclosed. Walker, 30, would have become an
unrestricted free agent after this season.
Walker began his NHL career as a defenseman with the Vancouver
Canucks, for whom he moved to wing. But he has become a solid
two-way player for the Predators, who selected him in the 1999
expansion draft.
In 194 games over parts of three seasons with the Canucks,
Walker totaled 10 goals, 34 assists and 466 penalty minutes. In
357 games with Nashville, he has 83 goals and 119 assists and
416 penalty minutes.
"He is a feisty, hard-working, emotional leader who basically
developed from a role player into a top-line contributor," said
general manager Dave Poile, who called Walker the `prototype
Nashville Predator.'
Walker leads the team in scoring with a club-high 17 goals and
21 assists with a minus-3 rating in 51 games this season. He
has six power-play goals, three shorthanded tallies and two
game-winners.
Most important might be Walker's leadership. The Predators are
ninth in the Western Conference, just a point out of the eighth
and final playoff spot as they try to reach the postseason for
the first time.
Walker, a fourth-round pick in the 1993 draft, collects $1.95
million this season, third on the team behind center Greg
Johnson and defenseman Jason York.