Nashville Predators: Potential P.K. Subban Trade Partners
Craig Smith Body-Double
The New York Rangers have spent the last couple of seasons trying to implode their team to create a rebuild. They want fans to “Trust the Process” the Philadelphia 76ers made so popular on their quest out of the depths of the NBA. In large part, the 76ers were successful in their “process” and have produced one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference the past two seasons.
The Rangers hope to mimic that success and have sold off every quality part of their roster the past two trade deadlines to get younger players and a plethora of draft picks. They only have a few, solid options left that the Predators would want.
It is no secret the Predators want and need more scoring. Chris Kreider provides that. He has done nothing but score goals since becoming a full-time NHLer in the 2013-2014 season. Since then, Kreider has produced 86 goals at 5v5. He trails only Craig Smith (91) of current Nashville Predators skaters. Kreider also has potted 35 goals on the power play in that time, good for first on the Predators ahead of Filip Forsberg‘s 32. Kreider lends his game to Smith a lot. He plays fast and shoots often.
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Not only would Kreider reduce the Predators salary cap by $4 million, he is also only signed for one more season. That allows the Predators ultimate flexibility in the future. The draft picks also limit the risk if Kreider has a bad season or gets injured and the Predators don’t resign him after the season. That $4 million will help tremendously in negotiations with Roman Josi.
The Rangers get an elite defenseman to pair with Brady Skjei since Kevin Shattenkirk never really panned out. Not to mention, the Rangers hold a ton of draft stock including the 2nd overall pick in the 2019 draft that could net them either Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko. The Rangers will have the cap space for the next few years while the majority of their roster is under entry-level contracts (ELC). Subban’s contract has three more years left. Perfect timing.
Up-and-Coming
The Arizona Coyotes surprised everyone this season by remaining in the playoff race for almost the entire season. They are a young team with some serious talent. They could use some more scoring on the back-end, however. Outside of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, they don’t have any real offensive threats on the blue line. Subban would be the perfect addition.
The Coyotes have a solid, young team. But, the franchise has always lacked fans that are willing to show up for the games. The team has switched hands multiple times in the last decade and rumored to leave Arizona altogether. Subban would likely fill more seats and bring more national attention to the team. He could finally bring some stability to the fledgling franchise once and for all.
Alex Galchenyuk has long been considered an offensive talent. He is not unlike Kreider in terms of consistency. Galchenyuk always hovers around 20 goals and 45 points per season. His best season came in 2015 when he scored 30 goals and 56 points. He has 1 year left on his current deal worth $4.5 million. The Predators would cut Subban’s cap hit in half while allowing flexibility moving forward depending how well Galchenyuk performs.
Division Foes
It is very unlikely the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks make a deal here. Not one of this magnitude. Division rivalries exist and are very powerful. Even if the rivalry on ice has cooled down in the past couple of years as the Blackhawks were not the team that won three Stanley Cups in six years. The trade is still never going to happen. But, just for fun, here is a deal that makes sense on paper.
Dylan Strome is an exciting young talent. He struggled in the first part of the season with Arizona before being traded to the Blackhawks. Strome managed 51 points in 58 games with the Blackhawks. He is also only 22 years old and plays Center. The Predators would be ecstatic to receive a player like Strome.
The Blackhawks got old on the blue line very quick. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are shells of the players they once were. They are also under contract for the next four and five years respectively. Adding Subban would bolster the defense while the Blackhawks still develop blueliners such as Henri Jokiharju and Erik Gustafsson.
Do They Have Enough?
The Columbus Blue Jackets rocked the hockey world this past April when they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs. They proved all the doubters wrong when they decided to buy and not sell at the trade deadline. But, four of their top eight players will be free agents this summer. Is there enough left on their roster to suffice for the Predators to trade Subban?
This trade was very tricky to make. Columbus doesn’t have with which to work given their free agents and immovable players in Seth Jones, Zachary Werenski, and Cam Atkinson. I originally had Josh Anderson in the trade before deciding to throw Columbus a bone and take Wennberg and his salary off of their hands.
Pierre-Luc Dubois is a premier young star in the NHL. I don’t think Columbus would actually trade him. But, adding Subban to the defense with Jones and Werenski makes them one of the best defenses in the league. They also have shown interest in resigning Matt Duchene who plays the same position as Dubois.
The biggest key is getting out from under Wennberg’s contract. Two seasons ago, Wennberg was becoming one of the best young players in the league. Then, he declined quickly after struggling with some concussion issues. The trade still nets the Predators almost $4 million in cap savings and huge potential. Dubois is already enough. But, if Wennberg can perform close to his previous trajectory, he will be a steal.
Biggest Need for Subban
The New Jersey Devils took a big step back this season after making a surprise trip to the playoffs last year. The biggest reason was Taylor Hall’s absence. After being named the MVP of the league last season, Hall finished this year with only 33 games played. The Devils have a breadth of young talent on the roster with a solid mix of good veterans.
However, they don’t have a true, elite defenseman on their team. They have top-four quality guys with the likes of Damon Severson, Sami Vatanen, and Will Butcher. But, they don’t have that superstar. Subban can be that guy.
The Devils get their elite defenseman and the Predators get back a top-four d-man and a seriously good, young NHLer. Severson was just given a new contract that is good for 4 more years and $4.166 million per. Bratt will be a restricted free agent after next season.
Severson instantly slides in to a top-four role with the Predators and has a nice offensive touch. He also adds another blueliner for the Seattle expansion team to take a look at in 2021. Unfortunately, that would bump Dante Fabbro back to the third pairing. But, Fabbro is younger and hasn’t played a full season yet, so the Predators might benefit from not thrusting him into a big role just yet.
Bratt is a high potential forward who has already shown he can play at the NHL level. He averaged 0.65 points per game last season. That would put him at fifth on the Predators. Corey Masisak at the Athletic put Bratt in the “Not going anywhere, unless it’s a blockbuster,” category in his post about potential movement for New Jersey this offseason. Getting only Subban back may not add up for both players, but Nashville can sweeten the pot with draft picks.
Benefits of Trading Subban
It is hard to find any benefit in trading a player like Subban. He is an elite defenseman on both ends of the ice. Subban has provides just as much offense as Roman Josi or Ryan Ellis and players way better defense than either of them. He arguably is the Predators best defenseman.
But, the rumors are swirling and the Predators should at least think about trading their star defender due to his team-leading $9 million cap hit. I followed the same thought process while approaching each deal.
Is there a good-to-great offensive player the Predators can get in return? If possible, is there also a top-six defenseman that available? Do the players returning to Nashville give the Predators flexibility moving forward?
Almost all the deals open up at least $4 million in cap space for the Predators. Only the Devils and Blue Jackets deal includes a player with more than two years left on his contract. Lastly, all deals include a higher end, NHL level forward. The best deal for the Predators would be deal with the Devils.
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Adding Severson and Bratt not only keeps the Predators defense formidable, but it adds a young forward that is already quality NHLer that is only getting better. Also, David Poile and the Devils GM, Ray Shero, have a really strong relationship. The salary cap numbers still add up and would allow the Predators to have a shot at landing a second-tier free agent forward like Ryan Dzingel.
The Nashville Predators are going to be a very good team next year whether they trade Subban or keep him. If they do decide to trade them, hopefully they can make one of these deals happen.