Nashville Predators: Top 5 Worst Trades and Offseason Moves
Offseason Acquisition of Kyle Turris
Kyle Turris has been an enigma for the Nashville Predators organization since his arrival via trade before the 2017-2018 season.
After spending time with the Phoenix Coyotes and the Ottawa Senators, Turris was acquired in a three-team trade that also involved, interestingly enough, Matt Duchene.
Upon arrival, the Predators signed Turris to a massive six-year deal worth $36M.
After Turris posted three good seasons in a row with Ottawa, this seemed like a good idea at the time. However, the contract length has always been suspect.
Turris and the Predators have just never been a great fit. His production versus the amount he is paid is lopsided. Management may have had visions of Turris being a star center, but it just hasn’t panned out.
Whether it is Turris’s inability to fit in or the coaching staff not using him properly in the lineup, we may never know. We have seen flashes of his ability but not enough to justify that huge paycheck.
Losing James Neal In Expansion Draft
As we start to think about which Predators players should be protected for the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft, we look back on the last expansion draft for another offseason mistake made by management.
To ensure that the expansion team of the Vegas Golden Knights would not linger in obscurity for several years, the NHL changed the rules for their expansion draft, allowing each team a certain number of players that they could protect.
This left Poile and the coaching staff with a very tough decision. Should they protect James Neal, a star forward and pure scorer, or Calle Jarnkrok, a younger player with some upside and a smaller contract?
They chose to protect Jarnkrok over Neal, and Neal went to Sin City. Jarnkrok has always been a decent role player that is versatile in the lineup, be he’s not on the same level of Neal.
Neal had just come off of an outstanding season with Nashville, was making $5M a year, and would be looking for a raise in the offseason.
Jarnkrok, however, was the cheaper of the two, and the Predators must have seen enough potential in him to be okay with letting Neal go.
Neal and Jarnkrok have had similar seasons since the expansion draft with Neal having the slight upper hand. It is hard to say what would have happened had Neal stayed in Nashville.
It is no secret that the Predators lack forwards who can score. Neal fit that bill and could have possibly continued to do so had he not been let go.
Mikael Granlund – Kevin Fiala Trade
Mikael Granlund was traded to the Predators from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Kevin Fiala before the trade deadline in 2019. Thus begins another tale of a player who did well for their former team and then couldn’t find their footing with the Predators.
Granlund had had a good season in Minnesota but had dropped off from previous seasons. Similarly, Fiala had a pretty good season going but wasn’t playing to his potential as he had in the past for Nashville.
After the trade, Fiala went on to have his best season to date this year with the Wild, while Granlund continued to struggle and to find past success.
Granlund is another case of a player not meshing well within the Predators organization. The Predators were looking for the immediate impact that never came. Was this because Granlund was on the decline, or was it the coaching staff not motivating Granlund properly? We may never know.
Granlund struggled under Peter Laviolette, came into his own a bit under Head Coach John Hynes, but was non-existent in the Stanley Cup Qualifier round.
Granlund is a free agent now and will want more money from the Predators, which is something that they won’t have much of due to the flat salary cap.
Had the Predators tried to move him during the trade deadline this season, they may have solved some of the issues they are having to deal with now.
Now it appears that he will be leaving Nashville. The Predators lost out on obtaining an asset for him at the trade deadline and they lost Kevin Fiala.
That’s two strikes against the Predators in this trade that should’ve never happened.
Trading PK Subban
It was a memorable day in Nashville when the trade that brought PK Subban to town was announced. Subban brought his brand of excitement and gritty gameplay to the Predators.
Yet three years later, management would move on from Subban in their quest to obtain Matt Duchene.
Had they already forgotten everything that was done and lost to acquire Subban? Apparently, they had.
Subban was instrumental in helping the Predators reach the 2017 Stanley Cup finals. He went on to have a great 2017-2018 season, scoring 59 points (16 goals, 43 assists), but his production dropped off a bit during the 2018-2019 season.
Subban was a fan-favorite in Nashville. He was a solid defenseman who was often paired with Mattias Ekholm. They combined to make one of the better defensive pairings in the NHL.
When Duchene announced that he would seek free agency instead of re-signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets, there was only one thing standing in the way of him becoming a Predator. Subban’s large cap hit of $9M had to be gotten rid of so that the Predators could court Duchene.
Poile crafted a trade with the New Jersey Devils. The Predators received two defensemen, and two second-round draft picks. Subban was no longer a Predator, which cleared the way for Duchene.
The Predators mortgaged their ability to make future transactions and gave up a player that they shouldn’t have to acquire Subban. They then turned around and got rid of a fan-favorite in Subban to acquire a player that hasn’t yet earned his keep.
Many still question getting rid of Subban while impatiently waiting for Duchene to step up and make his mark on this team.
Trading Shea Weber
Predators fans look back on the Shea Weber trade as one of the worst in Predators’ history. Fans now miss Weber so much they root for the Montreal Canadiens just to see Weber succeed.
To gain defenseman PK Subban, Poile struck while Weber was still a high-value player. It must have slipped his mind that he had given Weber a 14-year contract in 2012 to keep from losing him to the Philadelphia Flyers.
By the time all of the math had been done in 2016, Weber was in Montreal, Subban was in Nashville, and Poile was left on the hook for a potential salary-cap hit for a player that was no longer on the team.
According to Bryan Bastin of On The Forecheck, up until the new collective bargaining agreement that was signed this season, there was a possibility that the Predators would’ve had to fork over a whopping $24M to Weber if he were to retire a year before the contract expired in 2026.
The new CBA that was signed spreads out the cap penalty amount that would be due to Weber if he retires before the contract expires. Spreading out the penalty is preferred, as a lump sum and salary cap hit of $24M would cripple the Predators.
The Predators will possibly take a cap hit of $7.8M for Weber until 2030 if he retires before the contract expires.
When examining the Predators’ trade moves, you can look to the Shea Weber trade as one that started the snowball of bad trade decisions. The impact of that trade can still be felt in Nashville today and could impact their salary cap in the future.