The Nashville Predators are keeping forward Gustav Nyquist out of today’s lineup against the New York Islanders for health protection in anticipation of a potential trade, according to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

Friedman is also reporting that one of the teams aggressively pursuing a deal for Nyquist is the Minnesota Wild. The Wild currently sit in third place in the Central Division behind the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars.

Nyquist is in the final year of a two year deal inked on July 1, 2023. The 35-year-old veteran has played 138 games with the Predators and last season recorded career highs in assists and points and scored 23 goals on a highly productive line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly. This season Nyquist has scored nine goals and 27 points in his 57 games.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Wild have pursued Nyquist at a trade deadline. In February 2023, the Wild exchanged a 2023 fifth round pick with the Columbus Blue Jackets to acquire Nyquist despite the Swedish forward recovering from an upper body injury. Nyquist played three regular season games with the Wild and scored one goal and four points. In the postseason that year, Nyquist played six games and recorded five assists for the Wild in their first round loss to the Dallas Stars.

The Predators play their first game of a back to back Saturday at 11:30 am CT against the New York Islanders. With Nyquist out of the lineup, the Predators have recalled forward Jake Lucchini from the Milwaukee Admirals. The 29-year-old undrafted forward has played 51 NHL games between his stints with the Ottawa Senators and Minnesota Wild and is currently tied for fourth in points for the Admirals this season.

Predators captain Roman Josi missed Thursday night’s game with an upper body injury and is not expected to play today against the Islanders. Nashville has added defenseman Spencer Stastney to the roster ahead of the game today.