Nashville Predators: Top 2022 Trade Deadline Assets to Offer
Nashville Predators can offer some draft picks
Draft picks are the most frequently moved asset at the trade deadline. A third round pick can usually get you a player who will bolster your playoff lineup and better the bottom half of your roster in some way.
The Predators need to upgrade their bottom pairing and bottom 6 to compete with the teams ahead of them.
There’s an abundance of defenseman being shopped that would cost a third round pick or possibly even less. Some pending free agent defensemen that the Predators could trade this pick for are Islanders’ Zdeno Chara or Red Wings’ Marc Staal.
Staal or Chara would provide playoff experience to the Nashville Predators blueline that hasn’t went on a deep run for the last few seasons They would also be an upgrade from Matt Benning and the recently extended Mark Borowiecki.
Furthermore, the Predators could use this pick to acquire Arizona’s Phil Kessel, who has eclipsed the 80-point mark four times in his career.
In 52 games with the Arizona Coyotes this season, he only has 33 points, but playing with a more skilled team would increase his point total by a fair margin.
In an article posted by Corey Pronman of the Athletic, an anonymous NHL executive said the asking price for Kessel was a third round pick and the Coyotes would retain 50 percent of the $6.8 million cap hit.
Kessel would be an improvement to the Predators middle-six and adds the depth scoring that is currently a desperate need for the club.
Get something out of Grimaldi
This year was rough for Rocco Grimaldi and the Nashville Predators and resulted in Grimaldi playing with the Milwaukee Admirals, where he has 46 points in 38 games.
Grimaldi is impressively seventh in the AHL points. Grimaldi is a pending FA meaning he could be a good option for a team needing temporary help reaching the cap floor after dealing away their own pending free agents. He would also improve a team’s depth.
The 29-year-old has the speed to keep up with the pace of playoff hockey, and had three big goals in the playoffs just a couple years ago. After the last year and a half of healthy scratches, underperformance and now the AHL, his value is at an all time low, but the relationship between him and the Predators has reached its end.
Potential fits for Grimaldi: NYR, BOS, SEA, CBJ or WSH
Washington is an interesting fit, due to the connection with former Preds coach Peter Laviolette and having a fast bottom-six who could mesh well with Grimaldi. I wouldn’t expect much of a return for Grimaldi, but he could fetch a low pick, or be used in a package deal.
Offering a coveted prospect?
Juuso Parssinen is technically the only prospect on this list. The 2019 draft pick is playing for TPS in Finland’s Liiga, where he has a team-leading 31 points in 37 games, two less than Islanders’ 2021 2nd-round pick Aatu Raty.
Parssinen’s contract will have two seasons remaining on it after the current one, carrying an AAV of $850k. It is likely that he makes the jump to North America next season to adjust to the different style of game played in the AHL and NHL, as he has a good amount of European pro hockey experience with this being his third full season in the Liiga.
Many of the big name players who are available would require a return of a first round pick, a roster player or two and a prospect.
Depending on the assets involved, Parssinen may be the perfect prospect to include, so if the Predators make a splash on a big name, don’t be surprised if he ends up going the other way.
Part ways with Big Save Dave?
David Rittich being on this list may be surprising, but the idea is gaining traction, the idea was even discussed here a few weeks ago on this very site by Chad Minton.
This should interest Poile; Rittich only has seven starts this season, much less than he’s averaged in the past. In his four previous NHL seasons, he averaged 30 starts, with 42 in 2018-19 and 48 in 2019-20.
That isn’t possible behind Juuse Saros and in his minimal amount of games, Rittich hasn’t posted great numbers, with a .890 save percentage and a 3.17 GAA.
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Milwaukee’s Connor Ingram has proven to be more than ready to become Saros’ backup. The 24-year-old is 21-13-5 with Milwaukee in 2021-22, and a .formidable .919 save percentage.
Additionally, Ingram loooked solid in his minimal appearances for the Predators this season.
There are plenty of teams around the league who have goaltending issues, and the Predators should capitalize on that. Rittich could be a nice pick-up for teams that are shallow in net heading into the playoffs, or trying to get into a playoff spot.
Potential fits: NJD, NYR, CBJ, WSH, VGK
Offer up a quality veteran
Last week, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli said Nick Cousins may be involved in a package deal at the deadline for a high end player. The pending free agent carries a $1.5 million cap hit and would help a team trading a big name player avoid going under the minimum salary cap or avoid pulling a prospect from the AHL to play on a mediocre NHL team for the remainder of the season.
This was seen in the Tyler Toffoli trade in early February. The Montreal Canadiens received Tyler Pitlick as part of the return to fill the roster spot of departing Toffoli.
Cousins, 28, is in his second season with the Predators, where he has 13 points in 42 games. His value is relatively low but could be a nice piece in a package. Cousins will end up wherever the Predators can end up getting a high end player from, if they do.
Potential Fits: PHI, ARZ, VAN, SEA
Cousins is connected strongly to Philadelphia, as he spent the first three seasons of his career there and was drafted by current Flyers’ Senior Advisor Paul Holmgren.
Trading a top-six starter is possible
Luke Kunin is a useful asset at this deadline as the 24-year-old would be a solid addition to the aforementioned package deal for a high quality player.
Kunin, an RFA this offseason, currently makes $2.3 million. He has19 points (11 goals and 8 assists) in 53 games this season, but his biggest contribution is his hitting.
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Kunin is ninth in the NHL in hits and would be a strong addition to any team that adds him, especially a team lacking physicality.
In an ideal world, the Nashville Predators would be able to acquire a top tier player without involving Kunin in the trade, but if that’s what it takes, then the Predators should do it. Goal scoring is a much larger problem for the Predators than physicality.
Potential Fits: CBJ, VAN, PHI, NJD, BUF
A first-round pick would help land a big player
The major asset for Nashville Predators is their 2022 first-round pick.. A first-round pick is typically the base requirement in a trade for a top player on the trade market.
As the long time General Manager of the Nashville Predators, Poile has included a first round pick in a trade for a player six times. The players acquired were Ryan Hartman (2018), Cody Franson/Mike Santorelli (2015), Paul Gaustad (2012), Mike Fisher (2011), Peter Forsberg (2007) and Brendan Witt (2006).
This list shows that if Poile thinks a player is a good fit, he will move his first round pick. This has to be one of those times, with the plethora of names that are available right now, he needs to get a top line player with term who can score.
There are five forwards who are known to be available that Poile should consider moving the first for: Brock Boeser, JT Miller, Jared McCann, Travis Konecny or Rickard Rakell.
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With Rakell, it would be imperative for a deal to be signed almost immediately after being traded. Obviously, with almost all of these players, the asking price is not just a first round pick alone, it is a first, prospect, and a roster player, potentially more depending on the quality of the roster player and prospect.
For a younger player like Boeser or Konecny, it may take a prospect like Luke Evangelista, who has 77 points in 40 games in the OHL this season. He could be considered expendable with Tomasino, L’Heureux and Svechkov all in the pipeline, but it would be a major gamble.
If Poile moves the Preds first, it would be for a player who would make the Predators a definite playoff team, so the pick would be between 17th-32nd overall, and for one of the big names who are currently available, that is a no-brainer for Poile and the Preds.