The New York Islanders have placed Thomas Hickey on waivers, which creates a perfect opportunity for the Nashville Predators to solve their bottom pair problem.
The Nashville Predators are going into this season with a clear issue on the bottom pairing, and now they have the chance to solve that issue without giving up any assets, as Thomas Hickey now sits on waivers.
The Islanders were forced to place Hickey on waivers because of how impressive 2018 first-round pick Noah Dobson was at camp.
This now makes Thomas Hickey, who has been a solid defenseman for the New York Islanders for the past seven seasons, available for any team to claim on waivers.
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The Nashville Predators could be the perfect destination for Hickey, as they now have an extra roster spot following the demotion of Miikka Salomaki and Steven Santini and their bottom six has some major question marks.
Hickey could be the answer for the Predators bottom six, as he provides the team with something they desperately need on that bottom pairing: stability.
Hickey is a solid two-way defenseman for his size, as the 6’0, 183 lb defenseman can even lay the body pretty well, on top of his ability to create offense and play stable defense.
Much of that play could be seen from the New York Islanders 2015-16 playoff run, as he scored the overtime winning goal in game three of their first-round series against the Florida Panthers, then had a thunderous hit on Jonathan Drouin in the Isles second-round series against the Lightning.
Hickey can do it all on the back end and has been a regular on multiple Islanders playoff teams, making him a major addition to the Nashville Predators squad.
Hickey played in 40 games last season, as he saw less playing time due to the addition of Devon Toews last season, but still played some solid minutes to help the Islanders be the best defensive team in the NHL last season.
Hickey has had multiple 20 point seasons from the Islanders bottom pair, so he could definitely bring the same production over to the Predators if David Poile makes the claim.
The 30-year-old can provide the Predators more than what Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber can, so it is a no brainer that the Nashville Predators should claim Thomas Hickey off waivers.
Thomas Hickey brought an a-plus work ethic to every game he played, as he never took a shift off and always rushed to make the plays in front of the net and was never afraid to use his body to stop a guy on defense.
He is a heart and soul player, a guy who can reinvigorate the Nashville Predators and help spark a Stanley Cup run, which is exactly what the Preds need.