"The Nashville Predators agreed to terms with leading goal scorer Sergei Kostitsyn on a one-year deal worth $2.5 million today.

The deal means the Predators avoided the possibility of Kostitsyn becoming an unrestricted free agent. That would have happened if an arbitrator had ruled in favor of the NHL Players' Association, which contended the Predators had been late in tendering a qualifying offer to Kostitsyn. That hearing was scheduled to begin today."