On Sunday, the Nashville Predators traded forward Egor Afanasyev to the San Jose Sharks for forward Ozzy Wiesblatt.

Afanasyev was a second-round pick of Nashville’s in 2019. After seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Russia, he joined the Milwaukee Admirals for the 2021-22 season. Over 187 regular-season AHL games, Afanasyev scored 52 goals and 113 points. He also appeared in 19 games for Nashville, scoring one goal.

While Afanasyev enjoyed a breakout year in 2023-24, scoring 54 points (28 of which were primary points scored at even strength) in 56 games for Milwaukee, his future in Nashville was murky. Afanasyev is a restricted free agent with a reported offer to return to Russia on the table. His lack of a significant call-up to Nashville this season demonstrated the organization’s evaluation of him—that is, a likely elite AHL player who will struggle to get to high-danger areas and score in the NHL.

Wiesblatt was a first-round pick of San Jose in 2020 and made his full-time professional debut with the Barracuda in 2022-23. Through 101 AHL games, he’s scored 12 goals and 35 points, including six points in 16 games with Milwaukee last season, where the Sharks had loaned him. He added nine more points in 15 playoff games for the Admirals.

Although Wiesblatt’s track to the NHL may be similarly uncertain, he’s a bit quicker of a skater than Afanasyev and meshed well with prospects like Fedor Svechkov and Phil Tomasino. Wiesblatt will be a restricted free agent after the 2024-25 season.