Tommy Novak is going to have a little more money to stuff into his wardrobe budget come this summer.

Novak, voted the worst-dressed player on the Nashville Predators by his teammates, will be an unrestricted free agent after this season unless he signs a contract extension before then.

The soon-to-be-27-year-old forward is one of nine Predators who will be UFAs after this season, along with Yakov Trenin, Denis Gurianov, Michael McCarron, Kiefer Sherwood, Cole Smith, Tyson Barrie, Alexandre Carrier and Kevin Lankinen.

Assuming the Predators don't trade him on or before the March 3 deadline, Novak's name, perhaps more than any of those, will be of the highest priority on first-year general manager Barry Trotz's to-do ledger.

Not that Novak, who is an $800,000 cap hit, has been paying it much mind.

"I guess it's always in the back of your mind, thinking about the future," Novak told The Tennessean. "I honestly try not to think about it as much. ... Just try to do the best I can on the ice and let my agent take care of it, see what the options are, see what happens."

Luke Evangelista on Tommy Novak: 'We think ... similarly'

What's happened in Novak's first real full season is he's scored seven goals and recorded 13 assists in 33 games. Those numbers might seem middling upon first glance, but remember, Novak missed 11 games early in the season while he dealt with an upper-body ailment.

When he's not hurt, Novak has helped hold down "The Roomate" line, consisting of him, rookie Luke Evangelista and Cole Smith.

Until recently the three had been sharing a house and plenty of laughs, but Evangelista ventured out on his own.

"I like picking his brain and talking hockey with him," Evangelista said. "See what he's seeing, what he thinks he needs to be successful. Sometimes I try to implement that into my game, just different points of view.

"We think the game very similarly, but having those different points of view opens your mind up."

'I would love to'

Novak played just 51 games last season but managed to finish third on the team in points with 43.

This season he became the third-fastest player in franchise history to reach 70 points, which he did in 110 games.

"I had no idea," Novak said. "Kind of a weird number to think of, 70. But it's pretty cool to see, I guess."

THE GREAT UNKNOWN: The improbable, unnoticed rise of Nashville Predators center Tommy Novak

The numbers Novak sees on his next contract promise to have additional zeroes attached.

Novak hopes to earn those paychecks wearing a Predators uniform.

"I would love to, for sure," he said, praising his teammates, coaches and the organization that selected him in the third round of the 2015 NHL Draft out of Minnesota.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Predators center Tommy Novak said about impending free agency