Nashville Predators stock up, stock down
As David Poile enters his final week as general manager of the Nashville Predators, there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding the team as it transitions to the Barry Trotz era. With a new GM and head coach, plus 13 picks in next week’s NHL Draft, the Predators are hitting reset as Trotz begins to put his stamp on the franchise.
Here are the Predators whose stock is rising—and falling:
Stock up
Barry Trotz, incoming GM: Since he was announced as Poile’s successor in February, Trotz has been saying and doing all the right things. He had plenty of input in Nashville’s trade deadline activity that jettisoned four veteran players and brought back nine draft picks, plus forward prospect Reid Schaefer, and cleared more than $12 million cap space.
He then replaced head coach John Hynes with Andrew Brunette, a sharp offensive mind who coaches an “entertaining, offensive brand of hockey” that fans will enjoy watching, as Trotz described it. Trotz has also affirmed the team won’t be big spenders in a weak free-agent class, but the Preds are open to any trade that could potentially improve Nashville’s offense. The fanbase had soured on the Predators front office over the past few years, but it appears Trotz is quickly winning them back over.
Juuse Saros, goaltender: Saros was snubbed as a Vezina Trophy finalist this past season despite leading the NHL with 46.7 goals-saved above expected and 14 stolen wins (a statistic comparable to wins-above replacement in Major League Baseball.) He also tied for the fourth-best save percentage (.919) and ranked seventh in wins (33) and 10th in goals-against average (2.69) among qualified goalies. His stock arguably has never been higher.
Many goaltender-needy teams have reportedly called the Predators to see what it would take to pry the 28-year-old Finn from Nashville’s hands, despite the asking price being astronomically high. While Predators players have been traditionally ignored by the national media—former Predator P.K. Subban notwithstanding—Saros finally appears to be getting the recognition he deserves as one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders.
Stock down
Ryan Johansen, center: Although he missed the final 27 games of the season due to injury, Johansen was still having an underwhelming year. Of his eight seasons in Nashville, only three have been top-center quality and they haven’t come in consecutive years.
During his end-of-season news conference, Trotz singled Johansen out for being too slow, stating he needed to have “his best summer” to keep his top-six role heading into 2023. Not that Johansen isn’t capable of such, but at 30 years old and with just one 20-goal season since 2015, the odds don’t seem to be in Johansen’s favor. The Predators have also not been shy about trying to move his $8 million salary off their books.
Alex Carrier, defenseman: At just 26, Carrier can still become a top-pairing NHL defenseman. The problem is the Predators haven’t had a big enough sample size to decide whether Carrier is really worth a long-term investment. Per Nick Kieser of Nashville Hockey Now, the Predators haven’t engaged in contract discussions with Carrier, who’s a restricted free agent, and it’s possible the team could look to trade him.
Working against Carrier is Nashville’s solid depth on the blue line with Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, Tyson Barrie, Dante Fabbro, Jake Livingstone, Jeremy Lauzon and Cal Foote on the NHL roster. Also, talented youngsters are in the pipeline, including Spencer Stastney and Marc Del Gaizo. The way things are shaking out, it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see Carrier on another team next season.
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