Nashville Predators Trade P.K. Subban to Make Room for Future Moves

GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 15: PK Subban #76 of the Nashville Predators skates up ice between Clayton Keller #9 and Richard Panik #14 of the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on March 15, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 15: PK Subban #76 of the Nashville Predators skates up ice between Clayton Keller #9 and Richard Panik #14 of the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on March 15, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)

On the Surface, it looks like the Nashville Predators took a huge loss in this trade, but the cap freedom they got from this trade could help them acquire more pieces that will help the team be a championship competitor.

The Nashville Predators traded P.K. Subban for Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies and two second-round draft picks, which looks like a huge loss personnel wise. However, now that they are out of Subban’s $9 Million cap hit, it allows the team to add more pieces to the team via free agency.

The return in this deal was pretty underwhelming, with 24-year-old AHLer Steven Santini and a 22-year-old, former seventh-round pick Jeremy Davies headed to Nashville along with two second-round picks.

Jeremy Davies looks like he has the most upside of the two players that are headed to the Predators, as the 5’11 defenseman put up two straight point-per-game seasons at Northeastern University.

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What you don’t see on paper, however, is how much this trade can positively affect the Nashville Predators in free agency.

The Predators will now have around $15 Million in cap space headed into free agency, which they could use to help out their issues on offense.

With names like Matt Duchene and Anders Lee on the market, the cap space opened up by this deal could help the Preds bring in yet another big name on offense to help guide the team to a Stanley Cup.

Lee could be the most interesting of the bunch, as it seems like him and the New York Islanders have reached a standstill in contract talks and he could be the perfect fit for the Preds.

He is a goal scorer who gets his goals in the dirty areas, which could help the Predators horrid Power Play out a ton.

The Nashville Predators could also wait until next summer to use that cap space, as Mike Hoffman and Taylor Hall will be free agents.

There are an endless amount of possibilities for David Poile and the Nashville Predators this offseason, it’s just a matter of which one happens.