Nashville Predators: Free Agent Forwards to Track this Offseason

Alexander Wennberg, Florida Panthers, 2020-21 Cap Hit: $2.25M

This would be a major offseason move for the Predators to add a relatively young centerman like Alexander Wennberg who I’m sure is expecting a decent raise from his previous contract.

The Predators certainly need an upgrade at the center position with the uncertainty surrounding Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen. This position has always been a weak on for the Predators organization.

Wennberg does a little bit of everything on the ice as a true center and performed slightly above a half point per game pace in all 56 regular season games for the Panthers last season. There’s definitely a lot to be desired from that production level.

In 2016-17 for the Blue Jackets, Wennberg came up just short of the 60-point plateau and you know there’s teams out there that will chase him on the open market hoping he can come close to that level once again.

Wennberg has fairly decent possession metrics for his career, although last season was a little disappointing at just 49.8 Corsi-for. That needs to improve as well if he’s going to return to being a top-six center.

Could Wennberg fulfill a third line center role for the Predators if the price is right? He definitely can, but other teams will be highly interested as well.

This is a player I can see the Predators showing moderate interest in if the Panthers don’t bring him back. What his price tag would be is the major question, and he’s one the Predators can’t overspend for.