Predators want to wait before selling off veterans
Things just keep going from bad to worse for the Nashville Predators, who are in the midst of a three-game skid that has dropped their record to 5-7-4.
Disastrous starts in St. Louis and Minnesota have kept them out of last place in the Central Division, but this season so far for the Preds has been a continuation of last year’s shocking implosion that followed a huge free agency spending spree that brought in big names like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.
As Nashville spirals toward seller status for another year, could moving on from some of those big contracts be on the table to kickstart a rebuild?
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by insider David Pagnotta to discuss Nashville’s plans on the trade market.
Carter Hutton: When I look at Nashville… when we look back at that free agency a few years ago, it’s been unbelievable… We see Ryan O’Reilly last night talking about how he can’t make a six-foot pass. It’s tough to see. What is the plan there in Nashville, are there guys and some veterans that start getting moved out?
David Pagnotta: They’re obviously trying to figure it out to see what the direction of this team is. It’s still early. They don’t want to press any panic buttons, but yeah teams are starting to circle a little bit and are curious to see can they get into the Ryan O’Reilly sweepstakes? Which I anticipate to happen later on in the season. He’s got another year on his contract; he doesn’t have any no-trade protection, but unofficially he does. They’re going to bring him an opportunity that is favorable for him. At the same time, they’ve got to maximize their return. They have some other pieces. They brought in Mrchessault; they brought in Stamkos; they brought in Brady Skjei on that back end. I thought they’d be able to make some noise and be part of the consistent playoff discussion. Obviously it just hasn’t worked.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…