“Chaos is a ladder.”
Littlefinger’s words ring particularly true for NHL teams looking to rise from the middle to the ranks of the contenders. While chaos in the NHL doesn’t exactly carry the same stakes as the Game of Thrones, the Nashville Predators and GM Barry Trotz sit in a unique position to use the upcoming offseason to take a roster that was playoff-capable and shape one that could become Stanley Cup ready. Teams around the NHL are preparing to make big changes due to salary cap issues, roster retooling or simple underperformance and Barry Trotz has the pieces to make significant moves.
The current makeup of the Nashville Predators isn’t bad at all. In fact, they surprised much of the NHL landscape who expected Nashville to be near the bottom of the central division by rising from a rocky start to be solidly in playoff position for essentially the entire 2nd half of the season. However, that roster was buoyed by significant performances in the regular season that still weren’t enough to get the Predators out of a very winnable first round series versus Vancouver.
So the Predators need talent, high level talent. Game breaking talent, especially at the center position. How does Barry Trotz go about acquiring that talent while also keeping open the competitive window during Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg’s prime years? It takes some creativity and a willingness to use their best asset, goaltender Juuse Saros, to raise the potential ceiling of the roster. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few bold ideas for the Nashville Predators offseason.
(Author’s Note – these are all purely hypothetical, assume any salary cap constraints could be solved and trade protections waived)
Idea #1: Midwest Mayhem
- To CBJ – Juuse Saros, Dante Fabbro, 2024 3rd Rd Pick (DAL)
- From CBJ – Patrik Laine, Elvis Merzlikins, Kent Johnson, Adam Boqvist
Columbus is in a weird spot because their roster is a mess but they also have big money committed to a few high talent veterans. They need to give their team and fanbase something to cheer for. Replacing Elvis Merzlikins with Juuse Saros is a huge upgrade in goal and his age fits the timeline of the top of the Blue Jackets’ roster. Additionally, Dante Fabbro provides a steady presence to round out what would be a solid top four defense corps with Zach Werenski, Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov. Losing Kent Johnson definitely hurts, but the Blue Jackets have high end talents in Adam Fantilli and Gavin Brindley plus the trade clears over $15M in cap space.
As for Nashville, the real prize is Kent Johnson who has shown flashes of being a high level center but had his development really mismanaged over the past season. The Predators also get a trial run with potentially resurgent and still young Patrik Laine. Adding his scoring prowess to the Nashville top six forward corps gives another weapon to draw coverage away from Filip Forsberg. Elvis Merzlikins is still a capable goalie who could shine with a change of scenery but doesn’t have so much term that he would block Yaroslav Askarov. Adam Boqvist hasn’t yet realized his potential as an offensive defenseman but the Predators’ pedigree on the back end could help bring his game along. There is definitely risk in this trade but the potential infusion of talent, especially from Johnson and Laine, could really set the Predators’ path forward.
Idea #2: Coast to Coast Chaos
- Trade 1
- To CAR – Juuse Saros, Gustav Nyquist
- From CAR – Martin Necas, Brett Pesce (UFA negotiation rights), Aleksi Heimosalmi
- Trade 2
- To ANA – Pick #22 overall, Philip Tomasino, 2024 3rd Rd Pick (DAL)
- From ANA – Trevor Zegras, John Gibson
I know, this one is a little bonkers. First up, Carolina. They fill a big need in becoming a Stanley Cup contender by acquiring an elite talent in goal. Saros gives the Hurricanes a goalie they can rely on night in and night out to go toe to toe with the best goaltenders in the eastern conference. Carolina also fills some of the scoring gap left by Necas with Nyquist who is coming off a big year in Nashville. Nyquist would slide right into the Hurricanes’ middle six forward group at a cap hit far lower than what Necas will command.
For Anaheim, they get another first round pick which brings their total to three in the 2024 NHL draft. That’s a lot of ammunition to either keep building the pipeline or make trades to bring in more known quantities to the roster. The Ducks get salary cap relief from John Gibson and it costs them a player in Zegras they are not committed to building around. Plus, they get a Philip Tomasino who will be highly motivated to prove he belongs on an everyday NHL roster.
Nashville adds two highly skilled center/wingers in Martin Necas and Trevor Zegras who have both shown they can generate offense at the NHL level. They will have the chance to grow his game learning alongside one of the best in Ryan O’Reilly while likely skating nightly with Luke Evangelista. Nashville also gets a still-talented bridge goalie in John Gibson who can keep the team competitive while growing Askarov into the future starter. The Anaheim trade doesn’t make a whole lot of sense on its own but combined with the Carolina trade which also nets Brett Pesce the Nashville roster looks ready to grow into a contender.
Idea #3 – Marner Mania
- To TOR – Juuse Saros, Dante Fabbro, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino
- To NSH – Mitchell Marner, Topi Niemala
- Re-sign free agent Alexandre Carrier
The biggest and most burning question of the 2024 NHL offseason is whether or not the Maple Leafs will shake up their core. The seeming rinse and repeat of successful regular season then underwhelming postseason has seemed to finally boil over into a real recognition that change is needed. The most plausible choice for such a move is Mitch Marner who is one year away from hitting unrestricted free agency. Marner is an incredible talent who puts up a ton of points and recently has added killing penalties to his list of responsibilities. The Maple Leafs would need to add a high level player to offset losing what Marner brings to the game. Juuse Saros is top 5 at his position and comes in at half the cap hit. Even with an extension he will almost assuredly be cheaper than Marner’s next contract. Toronto has also been woeful on the right side of their defense. Dante Fabbro would slot in nicely next to a player like Morgan Reilly who needs a defensive counterpart to enable his offensive game. And who was Roman Josi’s primary partner when he scored 96 points? You guessed it… Dante Fabbro. Michael McCarron brings depth, size, physicality and an ability to kill penalties that is missing from the Toronto lineup while Philip Tomasino gives another skilled forward option to fill out the middle 6 lines. None of those players will replace Marner’s 90+ points but they might enable Toronto to be a better overall team while also recouping cap space that can be used elsewhere.
As for Nashville, they need stars who can produce big numbers outside of Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi. In Marner, they add an elite playmaking winger who will enhance the scoring of Forsberg and Josi near term and (assuming the Predators can extend him) be a key piece for the roster as it turns younger. Given the depth that Nashville maintains Marner also wouldn’t be asked to do more than what he is best at which is generating offense. Marner has also contributed more than 25 points on the power play each of the past three seasons which will definitely help a Predators team that has struggled to consistently convert on the man advantage. Is the trade a lot to give up? Absolutely, it is. However each player that goes out has someone in the pipeline available to replace him and skater’s of Marner’s caliber rarely come available. My belief is always that if an elite talent is available, you have to go and try to get that player.
So there they are folks. Three different ways that the Nashville Predators and GM Barry Trotz could utilize their best trading assets to add talent to the roster today while still protecting the pipeline of prospects for the future. Will any version of any of these happen? Who knows! Trotz could re-sign Saros to a big extension tomorrow and this whole exercise becomes moot. But that’s the fun of the NHL offseason. Anything can be possible and I will certainly be tuning in to see what happens.
Statistics and contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly, Hockey Reference and the NHL
