How should the Predators approach the 2026 Trade Deadline?

The Nashville Predators find themselves in the thick of the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference’s Central Division, but could determine their fortunes through moves in the lead-up to the NHL Trade Deadline. 

With the impending Olympic roster freeze and the deadline soon after, general manager Barry Trotz will have some challenging decisions to make: whether the 2025-26 Predators are good enough to challenge in the postseason, or whether looking to future years is a more savvy choice. 

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, former Predators netminder Chris Mason, now a TV analyst, joined hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to break down what the next few weeks could bring for Nashville hockey. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: We’re getting close to Deadline season, and I know you talked about this a little bit earlier on, but how do you think Barry Trotz handles these next kind of five weeks? It feels unlikely they’ll buy, but it’s starting to look unlikely they’ll fully sell, so they’re stuck in the mush. What’s your best guess on how this shakes?

Chris Mason: He said himself that ‘everything’s on the table,’ and he’s going to get a lot of calls. 

I know Ryan O’Reilly doesn’t have a no-trade clause in his contract, but he said he’s going to respect it, just out of respect for O’Reilly. He’s going to listen to everything. There are so many teams in it, and you guys are mentioning all the young teams, like the Anaheim Ducks, and even the Utah Mammoth, which could be a buyer because they have draft picks. They’ve got the good young players in their system and on their team that they could go and get the Artemi Panarin or the O’Reilly, or the Steven Stamkos types of players.

I think Trotz is going to be open. He kept a couple of guys last year because he didn’t get the deals that he wanted at the deadline, saying their contracts would be up this year. Things like that will still be on the table. I think this year, with so many teams that I feel are probably going to buy, you’re going to have a lot of people bid on Ryan O’Reilly. 

Could you imagine the Colorado Avalanche? Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and Ryan O’Reilly down the middle? There wouldn’t be a better center group in the National Hockey League, but he’s one of those guys who would probably get you a massive haul. 

Trotz is going to be open and listen to everything, and all the other guys, too, that I mentioned, like Erik Haula and Michael Bunting, all these guys are having really good years… It’ll be very interesting to see, because there are a lot of guys he could move and completely change the future of the organization, in terms of the players and draft picks you can get back.

You can catch Mason’s full Predators discussion and the entire episode here…