Niederreiter had 24 goals and 44 points in 75 contests with the Predators last season. He's a decent secondary scorer, having reached or surpassed the 20-goal milestone six times in his career. He also has a physical element to his game and should live up to that contract.

"We don’t rule the Canes out at this point for sure but we will definitely hit free agency on July 13th," Rufener told hockey insider Pierre LeBrun via e-mail. Carolina GM Don Waddell has said on a few occasions that he hopes to bring Niederreiter back. Niederreiter had 24 goals, 44 points, 144 shots and 119 hits in 75 games last season.  

Niederreiter logged some time with Vincent Trochek and Martin Necas on Saturday. He has four goals, one assist, 23 shots and 36 hits in 13 games this postseason. 

Niederreiter's fourth goal of the playoffs cut Carolina's deficit to 2-1 at the 8:18 mark of the second period, but that was as close as they would come. Jordan Staal and Brendan Smith picked up the assists on the play. The Hurricanes have a 2-1 series lead going in Game 4 on Tuesday.