Nashville Predators: Top Offseason Priorities to Address

It figures to be an offseason full of storylines for the Nashville Predators as they’re coming off another disappointing early playoff exit.

Since their Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2017, the Nashville Predators have lost in the first round twice , and in the second round once in 2018 after winning the President’s Trophy.

The common notion on this team is that it keeps going in reverse and something drastically needs to change to reverse that course. That’s what this offseason is really all about. Keeping this perennial playoff team from turning into an average at-best fringe wildcard team stuck in oblivion.

I’ve got a few top priorities on my list for the Predators front office and coaches to address so that we can get these issues fixed in time for the start of 2021-22.

Re-Sign Pekka Rinne as back-up to Juuse Saros

It’s going to be the main topic of conversation all offseason until Pekka Rinne gives us a clear answer on his future plans. He didn’t offer much clarity in the end-of-season presser the team held:

Rinne deserves whatever he wants at this point in his career. He’s earned it and been the foundation of this franchise for over a decade. What he wants fans everywhere should be supportive of.

The Predators front office needs to do everything they can to re-sign Rinne to a one-year deal. Rinne showed he’s still a fully capable backup in this league, and he’d be very beneficial to Saros’ continuing development into a franchise goaltender.

Expect Nashville Predators GM David Poile to put the fullcourt press on re-signing Rinne, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Rinne decides to play for a team that gives him a better deal or even longer term deal if he wants to play longer than just one more season.

So much is still up in the air on this, but Connor Ingram or an outside free agent is another possibility to be Saros’ back-up next season.

Shed a long-term contract, preferably Duchene’s

Let me start by saying I have the utmost respect for Matt Duchene and his skillset. Much of the criticism he gets just isn’t warranted, but in the end it does come down to actually producing goals, and that hasn’t happened as efficiently as his contract says it should.

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Duchene’s $8M per year contract is tied with Ryan Johansen for the second-highest on the team, only trailing Roman Josi‘s $9.05M contract.

Even though it’s not all on Duchene, this experiment just needs to end for the Predators if they can find a new home for him. The first thought is enticing the Seattle Kraken to take him, but I have my doubts that they’ll take on his full contract.

Johansen is a player I still think has a place here in Nashville. He showed me a lot down the stretch of the season, but I also see him getting more attention from other teams if the Predators want to try to move him.

If possible, the Predators need to explore all options to shed one of these eyesore contracts. It might be too much to ask, and it won’t be a surprise at all to me if they’re both on the roster to start next season. But they should at least try to find suitors.

Solidify the Bottom-Six

A huge positive development from this past season for the Nashville Predators was the emergence of some prospects playing crucial NHL minutes. Now it’s time this offseason to figure out who is here to stay.

Players like Tanner Jeannot, Mathieu Olivier, Yakov Trenin and Alexandre Carrier all burst onto the Predators roster and put forth valuable ice time to help push the team into the playoffs.

Offseason development and training camp will be crucial for these young players. The Predators need to enter the season having a firm grasp on who their depth players are, and also decide on others who are rising up the ranks like Philip Tomasino, Rem Pitlick and Frederic Allard.

I’m feeling very confident in the Predators’ prospect pool and think they’ve jumped to the top-half of the league in that regard. The future is bright, and we should be excited about more growth in 2021-22. It will be a major factor into the Predators remaining playoff team and avoiding on long rebuild.

Who Will the Seattle Kraken Take?

This offseason item is on every team’s list, and for the Predators it’s a complicated dilemma. I can see these going many different ways for the Predators on who they end up losing to Seattle.

I mentioned Duchene earlier as the hopeful future Seattle Kraken player, but that also seem very far-fetched. The Predators have to decide if they’re willing to expose a young, up-and-coming player like Luke Kunin or Alexandre Carrier, or expose a veteran like Calle Jarnkrok or Viktor Arvidsson.

If I’m looking at it from Seattle’s perspective, I’d assume they want a versatile player who can bring veteran experience. Jarnkrok has always seemed like a high probability to end up in Seattle if the Predators don’t protect him.

Ryan Johansen could also end up as the top-six center for Seattle if the Predators want to work out a deal and shed that contract. Again, that might beg far-fetched, but as much as the Duchene scenario. If you ask me, the Predators need to retain Johansen if possible.

Could they also leave Dante Fabbro exposed? He oddly wasn’t even used in the playoffs against the Hurricanes, but GM David Poile insists Fabbro has a future here:

This will be an interesting decision for the Predators, and not an easy one to make. Whatever happens here will affect how this team approaches free agency as well.