"The Nashville Predators never have been known as big spenders.

Thursday, though, they paid somebody to go away. As part of their preparations for the 2011-12 contract year, which begins 11 a.m. (CDT) Friday, they bought out the contract of veteran forward J-P Dumont.

Dumont had one year remaining on his deal and was scheduled to earn $4 million in the coming season. Under rules of the collective bargaining agreement, a player his age is owed two-thirds of his remaining deal in a buyout, payable over one or two seasons.

The Predators elected to pay Dumont $1.33 million each of the next two seasons. That money counts against the salary cap.

"It's disappointing, if you will, for both us and for J-P," General Manager David Poile said. "I think it puts him in a good position now, prior to [Friday] to be a free agent and to go out there and seek other opportunities."

The 33-year-old signed as a free agent with Nashville prior to the start of the 2006-07 season and averaged 67.7 points during his first three seasons. He became the only player in franchise history with more than 40 assists in three straight seasons."