Nashville Predators: Rocco Grimaldi Waived, Deserves a Chance Elsewhere

We should’ve seen this coming down the pipe as the Nashville Predators have waived Rocco Grimaldi as they continue to evolve into a more rugged type of team that also is pushing a more youthful roster.

Adam Vingan of The Athletic reported it midday on Thursday ahead of the Predators’ critical matchup against the St. Louis Blues as the six-game road trip continues on:

Rocco and the Nashville Predators didn’t match anymore

The Predators have embraced younger players like Philip Tomasino, Tommy Novak, Yakov Trenin and Tanner Jeannot as regulars in the starting lineup, making it very difficult to justifiably find room for Grimaldi.

Grimaldi had most recently played this past Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks and registering one shot on goal and one hit, but in just over 10 minutes of ice time. He was getting back into the lineup after Filip Forsberg suffered another injury setback that’s landed him as week-to-week and on IR.

However, Grimaldi couldn’t stick in the starting lineup for very long as we has listed as a healthy scratch last night against the Dallas Stars, and instead Head Coach John Hynes went with Mathieu Olivier and Michael McCarron as starters.

As previously stated, Olivier and McCarron fit the playing style that Hynes prefers over Grimaldi’s playing style of speed and offensive abilities, but not much in terms of defense.

In the end it comes down to a matter of coaching philosophies, and Grimaldi deserves a chance on a team that will fit his playing style more. I expect Grimaldi to get claimed by someone and quickly get a starting opportunity with a team that might be struggling for more offensive pop in their bottom-six.

Grimaldi enjoyed a big jumpstart in his career while with the Nashville Predators. That can’t be lost in all of this. He had only appeared in 37 NHL games before coming to the Predators in 2018-19, and ended up appearing in 164 games afterwards for the Predators.

Additionally, Grimaldi really became a fan-favorite with his outgoing personality and his aggressive offensive style of play. He was such an easy player to root for as he was revitalizing his NHL career.

Unfortunately, this can be a cruel sport that’s not always fair. Grimaldi absolutely deserves to be starting somewhere, but it just wasn’t a good fit in a Nashville Predators uniform anymore. I’d much rather see him getting starter minutes somewhere else over staying in Nashville and regularly being a healthy scratch.

Everyone remembers Grimaldi’s four-goal game last season against Detroit, which he then followed up with another goal the game after. He played in 40 of the 56 regular season games last season, and managed to respectfully put up 10 goals.

Grimaldi also had some success in the 2019 postseason against Dallas when he put up three goals, and was really the only bright spot in that first round series loss.

It’s always difficult seeing likeable players get waived, but ultimately I think this will be good for Grimaldi as he’s only 28-years-old and has plenty of hockey left in him. He just needs some new scenery, and I hope wherever he goes he thrives and gets the consistent minutes to do so.

Best of luck to you, Rocco. Thanks for the memories and hard work you gave to the Nashville Predators organization.