The Five Most Immovable Contracts on the Nashville Predators

Ryan Johansen

Most would agree that Johansen is the headliner of this list, as his contract has held the team back almost from the moment that it has been signed. Considering that he has broken the 60-point mark just twice since the two sides inked the deal, to call it an overpayment would be stating the bare obvious.

This season Johansen has just 12 goals and 16 assists in 54 games, barely averaging a point every two games, and he oftentimes looks lost like so many others on the Predators. Pretty much the only reason he has consistently remained in the top six is because of his lavish contract but keeping him there is not benefiting the team considering where they are right now.

In a perfect world, Johansen would be the first one out of town, but nobody will or should take a chance on him with how bad his contract is. Now, him only having two more years after this one makes it a little more reasonable, but it still does not make him worth $8M per season.

When Johansen is at his best, he is still a top six player, and considering the Predators’ inability to get the most out of their forwards, there is a good chance that he could go to another team and be very useful.

It would not look so bad for that team if they traded for Johansen with the Predators retaining $2M-$3M of his salary for the final few years. Considering that they are looking to go in more of a rebuilding direction, I would take that if I were Poile.

Still, that is betting on a lot, and especially when we are talking about the chances of him being dealt at the coming deadline, I would say that they are doubtful at best.

Mikael Granlund

If there is one guy who has been an enigma during his time with the Predators, it is Granlund. His status with the team has always seemed to fall on the extremes of either being extremely valuable to them, or being a liability.

This year, Granlund has returned to being more of a liability, and like Johansen, keeping him in the top six just has not helped, no matter how necessary it seems on paper.

After Johansen, Granlund is probably the guy who Poile would like to trade the most, but his contract would be tough to move too. It is not quite as bad as Johansen’s, and Granlund also only has two more years remaining on his, but many of the issues he has had this season have been identical to Johansen’s.

So potential trade suitors again have to ask themselves if they think Granlund’s struggles are his own, or if he is being held back by a team whose system is counterproductive to maximizing forwards. It is probably a little of both, as his time in Nashville has shown that there is a particular situation that suits him best on the ice, but the Predators have done him absolutely zero favors this year.

This year has definitely made it tough for Poile and the rest of the front office to get value for Granlund, but he is someone who could be a big help to a team pushing for a Stanley Cup. I am still of the opinion that a trade is unlikely at the deadline, but there is a better chance of it in the offseason when teams have more cap space to work with.

Matt Duchene

The good news that almost all Predators fans can agree on is that the days of Duchene being labeled as just an overpaid, unmotivated scrub are over. He is not replicating last year’s production, as was expected, but he has consistently been among the team’s most prolific scorers all season and is clearly in a better spot than someone like Johansen.

Duchene’s talent continues to be on display every night, and even more so than the previous two on this list, he has a good chance to be maximized by a good team with actual offensive structure.

If a team does indeed trade for Duchene, they will actually be forced to make somewhat of a commitment to him.

Duchene has three more years after this one on his contract, and its modified no-trade clause, which contains seven teams, begins next season. So he would hold some of the cards in a potential trade.

However, Duchene is someone who has been seen as more and more of a leader as his time in Nashville has progressed, and between that, his offensive skill, and how much he has shined in the city itself, the Predators may just opt to keep him around for the duration.

Guys with contracts like Duchene’s rarely get moved as is to begin with, and the team probably values him too much to be willing to retain any salary in a potential trade.

Duchene has done very well alongside Filip Forsberg in the past, so I could see a situation where the Predators hire a new head coach, try to get younger at the forward position, and in a few years, are in a situation where they have driven up his value, and can capitalize on it.

I still do not think it would be impossible to ship off Duchene at the upcoming deadline or offseason, but there are just too many reasons why it would not happen.

Mattias Ekholm

At this point, Ekholm just deserves a final decision on whether he is staying in Nashville for the long haul, or if he is being moved soon.

Back in 2020-21 when the Predators were struggling, his name was well at the top of trade boards, but they went on a tear right before the deadline, so they ended up keeping and re-signing him. Now that they are looking like sellers, Ekholm has naturally re-appeared in trade rumors.

Ekholm is in the first of a four-year contract, and trading a player in that situation usually does not happen and would just look really weird. That being said, it would not be a holdup in a potential trade like some of the other players on this list.

Ekholm has no clauses or any kind of movement protection, so Poile and the Predators would hold all of the cards if they wanted to deal him. Secondly and more importantly, he is a solid player and is reasonably worth what he is making per year.

Ekholm struggled earlier in the season as he was trying to adapt to playing on the right side, but he eventually returned to playing on the left side and got back to playing like a quality shutdown blue-liner, which he has been known to be. He is also a trusted leader and voice in the Predators locker room, and adding leadership is never a bad thing for a team that is contending for a Cup.

Ekholm is a commodity and if a team views themselves as one defenseman away from making some serious noise, they will be willing to take on him and his contract.

The Predators value him a lot and would not deal him unless it was truly worth it, but I would say that the likelihood of him getting traded is a solid maybe.

Ryan McDonagh

When you trade for a player of McDonagh‘s status, you never think you will be talking about him potentially being traded just months later. But obviously, the Predators season has not at all gone according to plan, so here we are.

McDonagh, like Ekholm, was struggling at the beginning of the year, as the team was figuring out how to best manage the abundance of left-handed defensemen on the roster. But he eventually got put on a pair with Josi, and the two have played some excellent hockey together.

Once again, I do not see an issue of McDonagh not being worth his contract, as he has continued to be a legit defensive defenseman who fits extremely well with someone who is way more offensively-minded.

He is also a proven great leader with championship pedigree, and anyone from the Tampa Bay Lightning will rave about how his play on the ice and presence in the locker room made a huge difference in their success. How could you not want a guy like that if you as a team have Cup ambitions?

But what is the true kicker in this situation is that McDonagh’s contract contains a full no-trade clause, and only in its final year does it become a 12-team no-trade clause. He has complete power to veto any trade, and considering that not only did he just move to Nashville — the place he chose to come to when he when the Lightning traded him — but he has already won two Cups, he likely just wants to stay put and continue to settle in with his family.

Opposing teams might be even more willing to trade for McDonagh than Ekholm, but if he does not want to get dealt, any discussion of that is automatically over. A hard maybe is the absolute best likelihood of McDonagh getting traded, but he is an overall good asset to have, so keeping him would not be the end of the world.