Nashville Predators GM David Poile 'getting closer' to signing Filip Forsberg to extension

The price tag attached to Filip Forsberg's next contract seemingly keeps going up.

So do, it seems, the odds that he will sign a contract extension with the Nashville Predators. The 27-year-old is in the final year of a six-year, $36 million deal.

After months of mostly being mum on the subject, general manager David Poile said Tuesday the team is trying to get a deal done with the unrestricted free agent-to-be before the March 22 trade deadline.

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"That would be be the goal, for sure," Poile said Tuesday during a radio appearance on 102.5-FM. "We've made that clear to his representatives. Filip wants to play here; we just have to keep talking and see where this takes us.

"I clearly recognize now that we're getting closer to it. ... We need the two sides to bear down if we want to make this happen."

A lot of the Predators' future hinges on whether or not Forsberg stays.

"Signing Forsberg does one thing," Poile said during the radio show. "Not signing Forsberg probably takes us in a different direction.

Forsberg said before the season he was willing to bet on himself.. So far, that bet has paid off. He's on pace for a career year, one in which he likely will break the franchise's single-season goal record. Going into Tuesday, he was nine goals shy of breaking David Legwand's franchise goals mark of 210.

He could command at least a $2 million per year raise, if not more.

Forsberg opted not to sign an extension before the season, like defenseman Mattias Ekholm.

Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina.