Before the Nashville Predators embarked on their most recent West coast road trip, the odds of the team trading goaltender Juuse Saros looked pretty good.
But after five straight wins, the Predators hold a firm four-point lead over the St. Louis Blues for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, likely taking a Saros blockbuster off the table unless another GM is desperate enough to meet Barry Trotz’s ridiculously high asking price.
But just because Saros likely isn’t going anywhere, that won’t stop other teams from checking in between now and the March 8 trade deadline to see if things have changed.
According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, one NHL team has shown serious interest in acquiring the 28-year-old Finn, but it’s looking more and more likely that Nashville holds onto Saros and signs him to an extension over the summer rather than ship him out of town.
“At least one team has been very interested in Saros over the last couple weeks — believed to be the Devils — but Daily Faceoff sources indicated on Monday that the Preds have told teams that as long as they are in position to make the playoffs that Saros will not be traded,” Seravalli wrote. “The usual caveats exist, that if the Preds suddenly fall out of the mix over the next nine days all bets are off, and well, never say never if there’s an offer they can refuse.”
During a radio interview with 102.5 The Game on Tuesday, Trotz all but confirmed Seravalli’s report, stating that while he’ll keep his options open, he doesn’t anticipate Saros going anywhere because the Predators will likely be competing for a playoff spot over the final 23 games of the regular season.
“That is the case,” Trotz said. “I’m going to leave a little window open if there’s a crazy deal that comes out and knocks me out of my chair. … I expect us to be fighting for that playoff spot. My job is to keep the balance between the long-term and the short-term.”
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