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.
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.