I don't think Saros, Fabbro, or Tolvanen will cost that much to re-sign. My guess is they all fall into the $3-3.5M range.

That is A LOT to give up for Patrick. I'm pretty high on Evangelista's potential, so including him in the offer makes it an easy pass for me.

I think Ellis has too much trade value to let SEA get him for nothing.

No thanks on Karlsson. I'd rather keep Duchene (or let SEA have him).

I just think that a Boston-style retool and tweaking is smart for the time being. You still have a good enough team to consistently make the playoffs, but at the same time you can also promote Tomasino, hold onto young guys like Carrier and Fabbro while swinging for the fences on a couple of change-of-scenery candidates (EK and Patrick), and have the pieces ready to potentially take the "next step" once again.

I'm not convinced Patrick still has top six potential, and even with the salary retention, Karlsson seems like a bad bet. If NSH is able to get SEA to take a big contract like Duchene or Johansen, I'd like to see the Preds go after someone like Landeskog with that freed-up cap space instead.

Philly accepts. That's a big overpay for Patrick imo.

Landeskog isn't a realistic target, though. Colorado likely finds a way to keep him even if they have to let Saad walk and/or bridge Makar to do so. Residual depth accumulation and continuing the (so far) fruitful youth development seems like the smart path. I also think that Ryan Ellis is one of those contracts that is very good right now but has a chance to go sour in the future, so freeing up the space in favor of protecting Carrier's bargain contract seems smart to me.

I agree Landeskog is likely a pipe dream, but Poile isn't doing his job if he doesn't take a shot there.

I just feel NSH will be worse off next year with this lineup. Unfortunately I just see these moves as change for the sake of it.

Fair. I'm probably a lot higher on taking a swing on Nolan Patrick and Erik Karlsson than most are. I just think that Karlsson is a solid rebound candidate because his numbers have been hampered by terrible goaltending for a couple of years now. Also, both Tomasino and Patrick represent a couple of opportunities to get that young, long-term franchise center that Nashville has never truly had before.

Here are some of my thoughts --

The RFA's are for the most part overpaid here. I'd go Tolvanen 2 x $2.5m, Fabbro 3 x $2.75m (maybe even a 1 year prove-it deal at like 1 x $1.5m or something -- I haven't loved what I've seen from him this year), and Saros 5 x $5m (basically the Lehner deal)

I also don't think this team needs a $2m Gudbranson riding the bench when they have other defenseman like Davies, Benning (disregarding the PHI trade here), and others that can play.

As for letting SEA select Ellis, that would be really, really bad asset management. If NSH decides they don't want him then the move is to trade him -- not let him walk for free. He is a valuable asset that would be able to get you major assets to help the re-tool that you’re looking to do.

The PHI trade is definitely too pricey for Patrick. I'm not opposed to taking a flyer (lol) on the guy, but he doesn't have much value right now -- definitely not 2x 2nds, a good prospect, plus serviceable depth on cheap contracts.

The SJS trade is interesting, but I don't really know if I can see Karlsson getting back to form. If he did, a Josi and Karlsson blueline would be crazy offensive, but I'm not holding my breath. It's an interesting idea, but NSH takes on the more expensive and longer contract. I just don't really know if that Karlsson contract is tradeable at this point, even with that retention. Though an Ekholm-Karlsson d pairing in his prime would've been the best pair in hockey!

My Ellis idea is more about cap management than asset management. Carrier, with his emergence late in the season, is on an extremely valuable near-league minimum salary for two more seasons. By all means, he should be protected along with Fabbro. I think that letting Seattle take a good but large contract isn't a bad idea if you can make moves like the EK/Duchene large contract swap to replace the loss.

But what if you could trade Ellis for a 1st++ or get a good top 6 forward out of a deal and then SEA takes a contract like Jarnkrok, for example -- I think that pushes NSH further in the right direction than just letting Ellis walk away with no assets to show for it.

I wouldn't want Seattle to take Jarnkrok for free, though. I think it's considerably more likely that you could get a first for Jarnkrok's bargain hit next season than for Ellis' somewhat-expensive long-term deal, if they somehow fall out of the playoff radar next year. I'm just of the view that cap space has value, too, especially if you don't have to give up a draft pick in order to clear it.

It’s much more likely that Ellis returns a 1st than Jarnkrok— I don’t disagree that there is potential if he has another good year and NSH retains 50% at the deadline, but Ellis holds more value than Jarnkrok in a trade. There are not many teams out there trading legit top pairing RHD.

I missed the Gudbranson re-signing. Yeah, he's unnecessary.



Ellis has considerably more trade value than Jarnkrok. A 2nd+ seems reasonable for Jarnkrok, but I think a 1st is pushing it (maybe at the trade deadline). Ellis should easily fetch more than a 1st.

I mean, the one team that I could see giving up a 1st for Ellis is Carolina, and that's only if (and it's a big if) Hamilton leaves in UFA. Look at the clubs that potentially need a RHD. To me, Philly is more likely to go for one of Barrie or (less likely) Hamilton. Chicago's too deep into a retool to go after him. Boston's defensive needs are on the left, not right side. Although I'm sure that Dallas would love to move Heiskanen to his strong side, I don't think Dallas is in a position to give up a first for Ellis until they know for sure that this past season was a fluke. Tampa is infamously low on cap space. Winnipeg is the only one I can think of besides a Hamilton-less Carolina that would be a candidate to give up a 1st.

I wouldn't rule out Philly so quickly. I'm sure there'd be interest from other teams you haven't mentioned too, like EDM, ARZ, TOR, BUF, etc. I think you're underestimating his value around the league.

EDM has Bouchard/Larsson/Bear, though (Oilers are close on a Larsson extension). Toronto is almost as tight to the cap as Tampa is and will likely be plugging in depth signings once again. Buffalo is rebuilding and Arizona is looking to add, not subtract, picks, which means that they likely fill their RHD needs through Soderstrom and UFAs, not by trade. I think that Barrie is likely Philly's guy. That leaves Winnipeg and Carolina, and Carolina only if Hamilton leaves. Maybe Vancouver if Benning panic-buys for a RHD after he pays Hughes and Petey.