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Nashville Predators: Four of the Best Midseason Trades in Team History

By Chad Minton

Ryan Johansen #92 of the Nashville Predators celebrates his shorthanded goal at 13:40 of the third period against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on December 20, 2016 in Newark, New Jersey. The Predators defeated the Devils 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Ryan Johansen #92 of the Nashville Predators celebrates his shorthanded goal at 13:40 of the third period against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on December 20, 2016 in Newark, New Jersey. The Predators defeated the Devils 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The Highway robbery of all robberies

To this day I still think diehard Washington Capitals fans lose sleep over this crazy April trade from 2013. The Predators were not in a good place at the time and rather lost in their pursuit of playoff success.

It was a lockout shortened season that was coming towards the end and the Predators not in playoff contention. They decided to make a risky trade by sending off a valuable veteran to their prior teams, Martin Erat.

Erat was a fan-favorite and extremely valuable player to the early years of the Predators as they were starting to notch some playoff appearances and dig their way out of the expansion team desert. However, times were tough once again, and the front office had to get creative.

2022 NHL Trade Deadline: Preds Need to Add a Defenseman. light. Trending

Filip Forsberg was an 11th-overall pick by the Capitals in 2012, and had extensive amounts of playing experience overseas in Sweden. However, he hadn’t played any games in North America and was still a wildcard addition for the Predators to take a chance on.

Erat’s best NHL days were long gone, while Forsberg’s full NHL career was ahead of him. Fast forward to current days, and Forsberg will be one of the biggest free agents on the market if the Predators don’t re-sign him or trade him.

In the next draft the Predators would pick Arvidsson as they gradaully rebuilt their team back into a playoff team. Without this trade for Forsberg, who knows how long the Predators franchise would’ve been in the dark ages and out of the postseason conversation.

Honorable Mention

  • 2004: Predators deal two second-round picks for the speedy Steve Sullivan. Ended up being a great move to add some scoring and veteran leadership to a team that always struggled to muster up offense in the early expansion days.
  • 2007: Predators make a huge splash by trading for Peter Forsberg. They dealt out a huge haul of two NHL players (Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent) and two draft picks. Unfortunately, the addition of Forsberg wasn’t enough to get the Predators a taste of playoff success just yet.
  • 2012: It wasn’t a blockbuster trade by any means, but the Predators added glue guy Paul Gaustad in part of a swapping of draft picks with the Sabres. They would acquire a fourth-round pick which they used to select Juuse Saros. Thanks, Buffalo.
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