Team: 2020-21 Nashville Predators

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 23, 2021

Published: Feb. 23, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

A look at 4 trades that have been the undoing of the Preds, one each year from 2016-2019.

2016 - Ryan Johansen
The Preds had lacked a true 1C through much of franchise history and traded away a fantastic young D prospect in Seth Jones to upgrade over Mike Ribiero. On the surface it seemed like the addition of Ryan Johansen fit the need and in the short term it seemed to work for both teams. Unfortunately the deal hasn't aged well for Nashville and the surprise success in the 2017 playoffs led the Preds to making additional moves in a win now at all costs that have dire consequences for the Preds for the foreseeable future.

2017 - Kyle Turris
Mike Fisher announced his retirement shortly after the 2017 loss in the Stanley Cup finals and the Preds panicked about center depth and helped broker the trade that sent Duchene to Ottawa and Turris to Nashville early in the 2017-18 season. The major piece that the Preds traded away was again a very promising young D prospect in Sam Girard who looks to be a solid top 4D in the making and Turris's game has gone so far downhill that he may not be in the league for much longer. How the Preds didn't see that Turris was a player propped up by playing alongside Stone and Hoffman is a question that will be asked for a long time.

2018- Ryan Hartman
Next on the list, and mind you this is less egregious than the other,s was the trade to acquire Ryan Hartman. There was a feeling that the Preds lacked physicality/grit, particularly in the 7-game WCF series against Anaheim in 2017 which the Preds won but took a physical beating in the process, and we all know that Lavi want's his guys to play with some jam. Ryan Hartman became a trade deadline acquisition along with a 5th round pick (Spencer Stastney) for 1st and 4th round picks that have both resulted in what appear to be NHL caliber players for Chicago in Beaudin and Kurashev. This one also makes the list for the fact that the Preds decided to trade Hartman and another 4th rounder for Wayne Simmonds as a deadline rental just a year later when Hartman was still an RFA. Obviously the Preds could have made different picks, but lets simply trade back the players that were selected at that point in the draft for arguments sake.

2019-Mikael Granlund
Last, was the decision to trade Kevin Fiala away for Mikael Granlund. It had been reported that Fiala wasn't a great fit in the locker room and there were some incidents in practice of him getting into it with other members of the team. However, Preds again trade a young prospect for an aging asset in Granlund. There are some that the believe the jury is still out on this one, but the reality is Fiala is still an RFA after his 2-year bridge deal he signed with Minnesota after the trade expires this year. The Preds very well may have traded a decade of Fiala for 2 years of Granlund and that math just doesn't work out.

There are still noticeable holes in this lineup by undoing these 4 trades, but it gives the opportunity to make moves that other team made down the line by allowing prospects to mature a bit. Take Mark Stone for example who Ottawa traded to Vegas for Brannstrom, Lindberg, and a 2nd round pick. Could the Preds have made an offer such as Girard, Kamanev, and a 2nd and made that deal (the exact package that landed Turris), possibly toss in a 4th rounder that you gave up with Hartman for Simmonds as a sweetener to beat out Vegas? Could we then still have the assets to make a trade for someone like Eichel, say Duchene, Ekholm, and 1st and 2nd round picks (possibly even a prospect not named Askarov or Tomasino)?

What could the Preds potentially look like if they hadn't been in win now mode from 2016-2019 which we now know fell pretty flat outside of the run in 2017? Could they still stay under the cap (lets not forget the 2m per year to Turris for the next 8 years) and likely get drastically better and younger? Could they do all this without drastically changing their prospect pool, and arguably making it better as well? Well here is a possible answer, and it sure looks like a much brighter future than the path the Preds appear to be on today.

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