"David Poile says he will continue to look for ways to make the Nashville Predators better, particularly at forward.

As it stands now, though, the general manager figures there are worse things than sticking with a familiar formula.

Nearly two weeks into the free agency period Poile has signed only one player, Niclas Bergfors, to an NHL-only contract, Two others, Zack Stortini and Kyle Wilson were signed to two-way deals. All told, their additions could cost the team fewer than $800,000 in salary this season.

With Bergfors, though, Poile sees a potential payoff similar to what the team experienced a year ago with Sergei Kostitsyn.

"He was on his way to being a very good prospect with New Jersey," Poile said. "He was part of the [Ilya] Kovalchuk deal — and an important part of it — and for whatever reason things haven't gone as well the last two years in Atlanta and Florida.

"It could be like the Kostitsyn situation was for us. Sometimes a different opportunity or a different perspective on a player can make a big difference."

Kostitsyn led the Predators with 23 goals and tied for the team lead with 50 points last season. Those numbers represented a significant increase over his first three NHL seasons when he had 24 goals and 68 points total."