NHL

Leipsic was taken by Nashville with the 89th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He had 120 points and 103 penalty minutes in 68 WHL games with the Portland Winterhawks this season.

Housley, who coached the U.S. in the 2013 world juniors, will be an assistant on Barry Trotz's staff. It'll be interesting to see how Housley affects Nashville's long-dormant offense, particularly on the power play. Trotz very much prefers a defensive, two-way game, which seems to contradict Housley's playing style. Then again, Horachek was fired Monday after the Predators finished with the second-worst record in the Western Conference, which also included one the lowest goals-score totals in the league. At the very least, the former All-Star should have a big impact on the organization's wealth of young defensemen.

Rinne wouldn't blame his sub-par year on the injury, but he was pretty clear about how much he expects it to help matters. "I'm positive it will be better," Rinne said Monday. "Right now I'm just happy it's taken care of and hopefully I can return stronger. I'm sure once I get back on the ice, I'll notice the biggest differences." Rinne is expected to remain on crutches for six more weeks and hopes to ready to play by the time training camp opens in September.

Horachek has been with the Predators organization since the 2002-03 season when he was hired to coach Nashville's AHL affiliate. In 2003, he joined the staff of the NHL club and was promoted to associate coach prior to the 2011-12 campaign.

Josi will become a restricted free agent in the off-season and the Predators want him to add muscle in the off-season as they think he lacks "man strength" according to coach Barry Trotz. Josi is second on the Predators depth chart on the blueline, behind Shea Weber and is expected to be an integral part of the Nashville defense for many years to come. He had five goals and 18 points in 48 games this season and should hit the 35-40 point mark next season if he remains healthy.

Before Pekka Rinne, the Predators' previous four starting goaltenders - Mike Dunham, Tomas Vokoun, Chris Mason, and Dan Ellis - all either lost their job to injuries and/or an unexpected decline in play. Nashville obviously bet on that trend ending when they inked Rinne to a seven-year, $49-million contract. Unfortunately, Rinne battled through an injury this season and recently underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left hip recently. He's projected to need four months to recover, so he should be fine by the start of 2013-14 campaign. However, given the Predators history, there is some concern that this won't be the end of Rinne's problems.

Josi worked on his nutrition last season and dropped from 12.5 percent body fat to 8.5 percent and will work on bulking up this off-season. "His conditioning was better," GM David Poile said. "We talked about his nutrition, his strength. When you're going to be playing big minutes like he did this year, you're going to need that." Josi increased his playing time over five minutes per game this season and should get a bigger share of ice time again next season, if he can handle it.