The Predators are likely to sell and retool at the trade deadline, but do they have anything that may be of interest to the Devils?
Two weeks ago, I took a look at the Vancouver Canucks as a potential trade partner for the Devils, as they had been linked to JT Miller by several notable hockey insiders including Pierre LeBrun. I also talked about a bunch of other players as well, but the main character of that article was Miller. Ultimately, my takeaway was that I did not think he would be traded to the Devils. Indeed, that turned out to be the case as he was traded to the New York Rangers last weekend.
I can say with certainty that the team that I will write about this week, the Nashville Predators, WILL be in sell mode. After “winning the offseason” with the signings of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, Nashville stumbled out of the gates to start the season and while they had a stretch where they were better, their recent five game losing streak is only reinforcing the notion that Nashville should be in sell mode. The Predators are sitting near the bottom of the Central Division. It’s a feeling that Devils fans can certainly relate to after winning multiple “offseason championships” the last few years, only for things to not go so well once the games started for real.
Nashville seems unlikely to blow it up entirely, as their core of Filip Forsberg, Stamkos, Marchessault, Roman Josi, Skjei, and Juuse Saros combine for just under $46M AAV against the cap and six NMCs between the six of them. But they do have several other players who are interesting, and in the case of a few of them, could potentially solve the Devils center depth issues over the next few years. Let’s take a look at the Preds roster and see if there is a potential fit with the Devils on a trade.
Ryan O’Reilly, a perfect fit at 3C, BUT…..
Part of why I didn’t love the JT Miller fit last week was because he felt like overkill on the Devils roster. Yes, he’s a big time point producer, but he’s on a big contract as well.
I think Ryan O’Reilly would be a more natural fit for the Devils with how their roster is presently constructed, coming at nearly half the AAV and nowhere near as much remaining term (signed $4.5M AAV through the end of the 2026-27 season).
O’Reilly is on pace for another 50+ point season, which would be the 12th of his career. He might not be the Selke-caliber defender he was earlier in his career, but he plays a responsible two-way game that you would be looking for from your third line center. O’Reilly brings a ton of big game experience to the table, having captained the Blues to their Stanley Cup championship in 2019 and winning the Conn Smythe in the process. He has won more faceoffs than he’s lost every year since he was a 19 year old second year player with the Avalanche back in 2010-11. And if there was any question whether he could play in a Sheldon Keefe-system, he did that in 2022-23 when he came over to the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline. Granted, it is a small sample size, but O’Reilly posted 4 goals and 7 assists in 13 games down the stretch for Toronto and another 9 points in 11 playoff games during that run.
O’Reilly is a little older, turning 34 next week, but the fact he only has two more years left on his contract and a reasonable cap hit of $4.5M makes him an ideal target, as he would be a natural upgrade over Erik Haula (and Haula’s no-trade goes from a full NTC to a 6-team no-trade after this season). O’Reilly makes a ton of sense….except for one little, potentially pesky thing.
Is Nashville actually shopping him?
According to Pierre LeBrun, the answer to that question is no, they’re not actively shopping O’Reilly. However, they’re also not hanging up the phone on teams who are calling to inquire.
I think that answer makes sense, as the Predators are pot-committed with their roster as it is presently constructed. Given the investments that they’ve made, it might make more sense for them to chalk this year up as a fluke (whether or not its a fluke and the Preds will still be bad next year, I’ll leave that for you to decide) and run it back given the commitments they have made. And the truth of the matter is that part of the reason the Preds are a mediocre at best team is that they don’t seem to have enough quality centers. They do have a few noteworthy center prospects in Egor Surin, Fedor Svechkov, and David Edstrom, but they’re probably not penciling in those guys for Top Six roles next season. An argument can be made that the Preds need O’Reilly, which means if they are going to consider trading him, you’re gonna have to make it worth their while to pry him away from Nashville.
O’Reilly doesn’t have trade protection, but the Preds have made it clear that they’re going to handle him like he does have trade protection. Meaning, if they deal him, it’s going to be somewhere where he’s comfortable going and they’re not going to blindside him with a destination where he doesn’t want to go. I don’t think that O’Reilly would necessarily have any issues with New Jersey or Sheldon Keefe, per se. I think the reason he didn’t want to resign in Toronto was because he didn’t enjoy the idea of playing in that pressure cooker of a market. I think he prefers being in a quieter market than Toronto where not everything is under a microscope. So I don’t think him not wanting to come to New Jersey would be a holdup. But I also think with Nashville more or less pretending that he has a full no-trade clause that they’re not going to approach him unless they think he might say yes and not until they have a firm trade offer in hand that they’re willing to do.
That said, I do think there could be other potential hold ups in terms of lining up on a trade. The Devils lack a first round pick this year, which may or may not be a holdup. JT Miller and Mikael Granlund were able to fetch first round picks, so that appears to be what the market is for a Top Nine center. The Devils could put their 2026 1st on the table, but I would think they’d like to hold on to that pick for the time being, and I don’t think their assortment of extra second round picks moves the needle a ton for Nashville for what is their 1C.
Nashville could use a little help at RHD in their pipeline, so perhaps they’d be an ideal fit for Seamus Casey, a player who I like but I don’t quite see a clear path when it comes to NHL playing time anytime soon. But I don’t think Casey alone is enough to get a deal done. I think a trade would probably look like Casey, a 2nd, and another noteworthy asset to get Nashville beyond automatically hanging up the phone. Is that enough to get it done? Would the Devils have to put Anton Silayev on the table instead? Or their 2026 1st round pick? I don’t know the answer to those questions. But O’Reilly is on a team-friendly deal, he plays a premium position, and he’s still effective. He’s not going to come cheap, and if the Predators do decide to seriously shop him, they can probably get better offers elsewhere.
What About Tommy Novak?
Just because I think the Preds will mostly run it back with their core pieces doesn’t mean that they won’t make changes elsewhere on the roster. And I think its possible that Thomas Novak could be a guy they put on the table.
Novak is in the first year of a three-year deal paying him $3.5M AAV. That deal looked promising one year ago as he posted back-to-back 40 point seasons. He got off to a brutal start this season, but is picking things up of late to bring his totals to 17 points in 43 games. He’s also shifted between center and wing this season, as he hasn’t been particularly effective in the dot at around 42.0%, and he doesn’t have a reputation for being a good defensive player.
Still, Novak is a younger player on team control for a few more seasons. If you feel his offensive production this year is the result of him being unlucky and you’re buying his recent turnaround with 8 points in the last 8 games, and you think he has enough upside to be a 40-50 point 3C, then perhaps he might be a worthwhile buy low candidate.
Who Else Do the Predators Have?
There’s not a whole lot there, although Gustav Nyquist might make sense as a secondary scoring option rental winger.
Nyquist had a tremendous season one year ago playing with Forsberg and O’Reilly on Nashville’s top line, but it would appear that that 75 point season was a clear outlier and he’s been closer to the player he’s always been this year. With his age and struggles this season, I can’t imagine Nyquist would cost more than a 3rd or 4th round pick at the deadline.
Colton Sissons would be an interesting 4C candidate. He is signed through next season at an AAV of $2.86M, would give the Devils a right-handed option that can take faceoffs, and he has been generally successful in the dot. He’s a solid defensive option who will block shots and throw the body around but likely not contribute much offensively, even with him having a career high 35 points last season. While I don’t think the Predators are looking to give him away, I could see them making a veteran like him available at the right price.
Michael McCarron is a large RW at 6’6” and 232 lb who could be a sneaky intriguing faceoff option, winning 54.3% of draws the last four seasons. Signed through the end of next season at $900,000 AAV, he isn’t going to provide much offensively but he does have a physical edge to his game. Think of him as a slightly larger Nate Bastian, except he’s cheaper, he can actually take faceoffs, and he’ll get into a fight fairly frequently. With Bastian being a pending UFA, McCarron makes some sense as a 4th line RW replacement. Maybe he can also be the eventual Kurtis MacDermid replacement as well as the Devils should be looking to retool their bottom six.
Generally speaking though, there’s a lot of guys on the Predators who have struggled this year. Luke Evangelista had a promising year last year but has 14 points in 39 games. I’ve already mentioned how Novak and Nyquist have taken a step back this year. They’re probably not going to move a recent first round pick like Fedor Svechkov or Zachary L’Heureux who has shown promise in their respective rookie campaigns.
Would the Predators Trade a Core Piece Instead?
Never say never, but it would be a stunning admission of error after opening up the checkbook in the manner that they did this summer.
I’ll start by saying that I really don’t have any interest in Steven Stamkos at $8M for three more years. If the Devils were going to spend that kind of money, they probably should’ve pushed harder for JT Miller before the Rangers got him for essentially a bag of pucks and a ham sandwich.
I could potentially be talked into Jonathan Marchessault, even though I do not love his contract either. I think he has quite a bit left in the tank as a player and he’s a guy the Devils were very much interested in this past summer (along with Stamkos, for that matter). If Marchessault was already having second thoughts on his decision to sign in Nashville, maybe he’d be willing to waive his 15-team no trade clause, assuming NJ is on his list. But I would probably need the Preds to eat a little salary in return. I don’t think the Predators would move Filip Forsberg, Juuse Saros or Roman Josi, and I’m not interested in Brady Skjei.
Even with the Predators going on a shopping spree last summer, they still have a ton of flexibility in regards to the salary cap, as they’re projected to have $9.7M in cap space going into next season according to PuckPedia. Keep in mind, that’s before the cap goes up, and that’s with only one notable UFA in Nyquist who they’d be smart to move on from. I don’t see them handing out multiple $7M or $8M contracts again, but I could see them being in on a couple players in that $3-4M range and essentially doubling down on the veteran core that they assembled one year ago.
Assuming that is the approach that Nashville decides to take, I don’t really see them moving on from any of their supposed core pieces unless one of them decides to press the issue and request a trade.
Final Thoughts
I think its worth keeping in mind that there is a long history between Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and Predators GM Barry Trotz, as Fitzgerald served as the first ever captain for the Trotz-coached Predators once upon a time. There is a mutual respect between the two organizations.
The Devils and Predators haven’t connected together on a trade since they swapped 7th round picks on the draft floor in 2023 to give retiring GM David Poile a feel good moment in Nashville. That doesn’t mean the organizations don’t talk regularly, even if they aren’t always able to come together on deals.
I would guess when push comes to shove, the Predators will make an organizational decision to hold on to Ryan O’Reilly and try to be competitive next season. I don’t think that necessarily means they’re overly attached to the rest of the pieces on their roster though. If the Devils and Predators wind up connecting on a trade, I think its more likely to be for a lower-end piece like Thomas Novak, Gustav Nyquist, Michael McCarron or Colton Sissons that can address their needs….center depth and secondary offense. And I would guess it wouldn’t cost a ton to get any of those aforementioned players.
I think if it were up to me, I’d aim a little higher in terms of secondary offense than Nyquist, and I don’t love that Novak is really more of an offense-first guy for the bottom six, particularly when he hasn’t shown much offense this year. If I can’t get O’Reilly, the only guy who does much for me here is Sissons as a 4C option. He’s a little overpaid at $2.86M, but its something the Devils could manage for the rest of this season and next season and he’d be an instant upgrade over Lazar, who would theoretically shift over to the wing.
That’s how I view the Predators heading towards the trade deadline. Perhaps you view things differently. Please feel free to leave a comment below, and thanks for reading.