Coming into the 2024 NHL offseason, the Nashville Predators have been a team of intrigue. With a roster that everyone agrees is a work in progress they rallied behind new head coach Andrew Brunette and unexpectedly landed a wild card playoff spot. Despite the first round exit at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks there has been an air of positivity around the organization. Armed with the 7th most cap room, seven draft picks in the first 4 rounds of the draft, a deep pipeline of prospects and a star goalie as a blue chip trade piece, Predators general manager Barry Trotz has lots of options. But late in the evening on June 27th, 2024 the whole landscape shifted as reports came out that the Predators and goalie Juuse Saros had agreed on an extension.
The Plan has Changed
With Saros signing an 8 year extension on July 1st the Nashville Predators will now have three core veteran players locked into long term contracts. Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg and Juuse Saros will each be under contract north of $7M per season for at least four more seasons and all three will be well into their 30’s when those contracts expire. While Barry Trotz has been preaching patience and a longer term outlook as it relates to the Predators roster, the time to start the run towards contention should be now. The Predators need to take advantage of the remaining prime years of these star players and give them a real chance to win a Stanley Cup. However there are some glaring weaknesses Nashville will need to address in the days ahead to put a contending roster on the ice, namely another high end goal scorer and at least one big minute defenseman.
How Does It Happen
There are some potentially very strong options for the Predators, should they choose to make the moves. Among free agents, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault headline the potential short term upgrades at forward while Brett Pesce would make a great fit alongside Roman Josi on Nashville’s top defensive pair. The salary cap cost for any of these would be significant but Barry Trotz has the cap space and asset flexibility to make it happen. The trade market is deep with younger forward talents like Martin Necas, Trevor Zegras and Patrik Laine who would all be instant upgrades to the team’s scoring ability. Toronto Maple Leafs star winger Mitch Marner could also be an option as that team looks to reshape its roster.
With Juuse Saros off the table as a trade piece, the focus shifts to using future talents as the selling points. The easiest piece to move is the 22nd overall pick in the 2024 draft. While trading first round picks is always a tough choice they are also magic beans that often don’t become anything… but they might. The Predators also have two picks in each of the next three rounds so there’s lots of opportunity to find future NHL talents. The other big question now is whether top prospect goalie Yaroslav Askarov becomes available. While Trotz doesn’t have to trade him, as Askarov could easily move up to the Predators’ backup goalie spot for the foreseeable future, Askarov’s value is high and his contract is up in a year. If he doesn’t want to re-sign, trading him as an RFA significantly lowers his trade value. Right now his value is very high and there could be teams willing to part with one of the upgrade options mentioned earlier. There are a number of other prospects of varying states of NHL readiness that in a perfect the Predators would rather hold onto but have to be considered as trading options if the right player is part of the return.
Barry Trotz needs to be prepared to use almost anything at his disposal to find the upgrades the Predators roster needs. In my mind, the 22nd overall pick should be at the top of the list. Yaroslav Askarov should be available but the asking price has to be huge. If a team is willing to meet it then consider the asset managed and move forward. Otherwise, continue building an elite goalie tandem in the vision of what Boston had with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. However the moves shake out on draft night and into free agency, the time is now for Barry Trotz and the Nashville Predators to get aggressive, bring in established talent that will upgrade what Andrew Brunette has to work with and start pushing for a Stanley Cup.
