The writing was on the wall for Yakov Trenin.
Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz recently told 102.5 The Game that he had been discussing contract extensions with a few soon-to-be unrestricted free agents, and he noted if a new deal couldn’t be reached, then said players might find themselves on another team after the March 8 trade deadline.
Trotz made good on his word on Thursday, sending Trenin plus defensive prospect Graham Sward to the division rival Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and defensive prospect Jeremy Hanzel.
“I think the answer can only come from their representatives,” Trotz said of negotiating with Trenin and other pending UFAs. “There’s been some offers made. … There’s a certain point where that’s it for me. I’ve got to stop, I’ve got to hold the line for certain guys. If they want to cross the line, then we maybe have to make change. At the same time, we can hang onto to those guys and use those guys as free agents.”
Trenin, who’s in the final season of a two-year, $3.4 million contract, had 10 goals and 14 points in 60 games this season. A second-round pick of Nashville’s in 2015, Trenin totaled 46 goals and 79 points in 283 games with the Predators, where he played primarily a bottom-six role.
Sward was a fifth-round pick of the Predators in 2022. He’s currently playing for the Wenatchee Wild in the Western Hockey League and he hasn’t signed an entry-level contract yet.
Hanzel was Colorado’s seventh-ranked prospect according to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. He signed a three-year, ELC with the Avalanche just hours before he was traded to Nashville.
The 21-year-old defenseman was a sixth-round pick of Colorado’s in 2023. He has 13 goals and a team-high 50 points in 58 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL.
The trade now gives the Predators eight picks in the 2025 draft, including two first-rounders and two third-rounders. Nashville traded away its 2025 seventh-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres last trade deadline for forward Rasmus Asplund.
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