The Nashville Predators were eliminated only three days ago and trade speculation has already begun to swirl around P.K. Subban.
It’s not unusual for a team that’s been eliminated earlier than expected to be surrounded by armchair GMs looking for an answer to what went wrong. In Toronto, for instance, the immediate fallout was all about Mike Babcock’s future as the head coach, Nazem Kadri’s fit as a hot-headed third-liner suspended two playoffs in a row, and Auston Matthews’s ice time.
The Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy last season, but were unable to get out of the first round. GM David Poile chose not to make any sweeping changes, electing instead to bring the band back, add to it at the deadline, and take another run. Losing in six games in Round 1 — dropping their last three in a row — will leave a sour taste.
“I believed we had good reason to give this group another opportunity,” Poile said, via The Tennessean. “However, our first-round loss shows we have some areas we need to address.
“We failed to meet our expectations and our fans’ expectations. There are some issues to address. There will be some changes.”
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Poile didn’t name anyone in particular, but you can see where the potential moves could arise from by looking at their cap picture.
Subban is the highest-paid player with a $9 million cap hit. In 63 games, he posted 31 points, the lowest output of his career, and averaged the fourth-most ice time on Nashville’s blue line at 22:40 per game.
The Predators don’t have any big, important contracts to extend this summer, but a year form now Roman Josi will be UFA eligible and in line for a big pay increase from his current $4 million. Ryan Ellis will start a brand new contract next season paying him $6.25 million against the cap. Forwards Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith will be up in 2020 as well, so Poile may have had to make some choices anyway. An early exit makes that more likely.
“I’m lucky enough to have been traded in my career and understand the business side of it,” Subban told reporters. “But that doesn’t change the emotional part of playing in Nashville. This is a place I’ve talked about with teammates and friends, a place I would love to continue my career, and who knows? Your career is long. But Nashville is a very hard place to not imagine yourself playing. It’s a great city.
“But at the same token, if I’m talking facts, I’m the highest-paid player on this team, and with that comes a responsibility. Just like everybody else, the responsibility is on me to take the fact that we didn’t win the first round, we didn’t accomplish what we wanted to accomplish. I hope I’m a part of the solution. I hope I can be here and be a part of that. But at the same token, I’m prepared to understand that this organization deserves and demands the best, and they should. The city and the fans deserve to have the best team on the ice come September.”
One area some wondered might change was behind the bench, but at the team’s locker clean out Wednesday, Poile threw his support behind Peter Laviolette to return for a sixth season. Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson are locked in for a few years and are as close to untouchable as you can get. Ryan Johansen is coming off the second-best point total of his career, but managed only two in the playoffs.
Aside from Subban, Kyle Turris‘s name has also showed up in the rumour mill, though his value is far lower. Still on the books for another five years at a $6 million cap hit, Turris managed just seven goals and 23 points.
Room needs to be made as well for prospect Eeli Tolvanen, the 30th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft, who is still on his entry-level contract. And Dante Fabbro, the 17th overall pick in 2016, is also NHL ready and played six post-season games. Fabbro, too, is still on his ELC.
The Predators will return with Stanley Cup hopes again in 2019-20, but it seems like they could have a different look. Poile is no stranger to blockbuster trades — the acquisition of Subban for Shea Wbeer and Johansen for Seth Jones are two great examples — so don’t put it past him to cannon ball into the market again this off-season.
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