After the Nashville Predators fell to the Arizona Coyotes in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers in the 2019-2020 season, GM David Poile told fans that the team would prioritize the youth movement last offseason.
All of the fans were pumped. It turned out we got a glimpse of the youngsters in the 2020-21 season, but that was primarily due to injuries necessitating their presence.
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What ended up happening last offseason were mainly depth signings such as Mark Borowiecki, Matt Benning, Nick Cousins, Brad Richardson, Erik Haula, and bringing back Mikael Granlund.
It is not like the individual moves were terrible. On the contrary, Haula and Granlund turned out to be well worth it. However, that does not mean that the fanbase did not feel cheated.
At the end of the day, these were minor moves that did not make the Predators a much better team, if at all. All they did was take up cap space and roster spots. Early in the season, I wrote about how the team had an overflow of depth that was becoming a problem.
Based on the remarkable turnaround that got them into the playoffs, it is clear that the youth on the Predators’ roster was one of the main catalysts. Now is the time for Poile to act on the promise he made just less than a year ago.
Part of that promise would be letting go of guys who cannot be relied on for the long-term future, and the Predators have the perfect opportunity to do that this summer.
Granlund, Haula, Richardson, and Erik Gudbranson are the most notable unrestricted free agents this summer. In my opinion, the Predators should retain none of them. All of them are over the age of 29 and are very replaceable. The only free agent Poile should try to keep is Pekka Rinne, and enough has been said about him at this point.
Even guys like Cousins, Benning, and Borowiecki are set to hit free agency next offseason, and in a perfect world, the Predators could get something in return for them this offseason.
Likewise, I would not oppose Nashville dealing Calle Jarnkrok, Rocco Grimaldi, and Viktor Arvidsson. However, I will not go so far as to say that the Predators should actively shop them.
The chances of every one of those players leaving, along with Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen, is extremely unlikely. Nonetheless, the Predators need to make moves that will allow their youth to gain experience next year without being forced to play them because of injuries.
Poile should not make any moves to sign depth players like he did last offseason. The only players he should trade for are superstar forwards. That is the only thing that will truly make this team better. Jack Eichel, I am looking right at you.
Not to mention, signing more short-term bottom six players will only take up the cap space needed to re-sign Juuse Saros.
The future of the Predators is what is important at this point. It is imperative that guys like Phillip Tomasino, Rem Pitlick, David Farrance, Jeremy Davies, and others play significant roles next year. This may cause them to struggle and miss the playoffs, but it will help in the long run, which is ideal because they are not making any actual noise with the roster they had for the 2020-2021 season.