Ranking the Five Worst Trades in Nashville Predators Franchise History

#5 Nashville Predators Receive Mikael Granlund from Wild

In the midseason of 2019 the Nashville Predators were still trying to keep that Stanley Cup window open. In the prior postseason the Predators lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Winnipeg Jets in the second round of what was the franchise’s only Presidents Trophy winning season.

While Mikael Granlund has not been a terrible addition to this team, he has not played up to his contract this season. He has found a hot streak of late but still needs to find another level for the money he makes.

Nashville traded Kevin Fiala to the Minnesota Wild on February 25, 2019, in exchange for Granlund. At the time things just weren’t working out for the scoring winger and the franchise that drafted him 11th-overall in 2014. Fiala had a high ceiling, the Predators decided to move on.

Granlund has played in 266 games for the Nashville Predators, while Fiala played in 215 games for the Wild before eventually being dealt to the LA Kings this past offseason.

It’s been moderate production from Granlund on the offensive end with 51 goals and 109 assists, but has never reached his season point totals that he amassed before the trade with Minnesota. He had seasons of 69 points and 67 points before the trade to Nashville.

Fiala , on the other hand, has been an offensive powerhouse and only trending to be more prolific. He has 21 goals and 63 points currently for the Kings, which would both lead the Predators this season.

Posting 100 goals and 152 assists over the past five seasons, Fiala is a big part of the Minnesota Wild’s recent success and a key player in the LA Kings organization now.

Trading Fiala may have been unavoidable considering it wasn’t working for both parties, but Granlund hasn’t brought the value that was originally hoped for.

#4 Nashville Predators Trade 1st-Rd Pick for Draft Picks

This one may catch you off guard, because one may say, how is trading one draft pick for two draft picks a bad decision? Let’s take a look at what those draft picks entailed.

Nashville traded a first-round pick on June 20, 2008, in return for a later first round pick in that draft and a third-round pick in the following draft.

With Nashville’s two picks they drafted Chet Pickard and Taylor Beck. Pickard ended up never playing in the NHL and Beck played three seasons with the Nashville Predators.

Over the course of three seasons, Beck played in 85 regular season games and had 11 goals and 12 assists. Beck hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2016-17 season.

So what did Nashville lose in that draft? The pick that Nashville traded away is the pick that the Ottawa Senators used to draft none other than Erik Karlsson.

Karlsson is an elite defenseman in the league today and is on pace to win the Norris Trophy this season.

While it is unknown if the Predators would have been able to keep him due to salary cap issues, could you imagine if it would have worked out and this team had Roman Josi and Karlsson as a top pairing on the blue line?

#3 Nashville Predators Trade for Wayne Simmonds

The Wayne Simmonds trade was one that Poile made on February 25, 2019, with the Philadelphia Flyers, in hopes to bring size into the lineup and a net front presence. How did that turn out for the Predators? Not good at all.

Ryan Hartman, a gritty winger who had a strong two-way game and brought energy to the lineup. He had been acquired from the Blackhawks the prior season and scored two goals, one a game-winner, in the 2018 postseason for the Predators.

Simmonds only played for the Predators in the 2018-19 season and was supposed to be a key part to making the playoffs and having a deep run. He underperformed to the fullest extent.

In Simmonds’ 19 games with the Predators, to include two playoff games, he had one goal and two assists. Not a very good return in which the Predators gave up Ryan Hartman.

Hartman was traded from Philadelphia to the Minnesota Wild after the 2018-19 season and has performed pretty well in recent memory. Since being traded by the Nashville Predators, Hartman has skated in 257 games and has 61 goals and 71 assists.

To add salt to the wound, Hartman scored the game-winning goal for Minnesota against the Predators earlier this week with 21 seconds remaining in the game.

#2 Nashville Predators Trade for 2007 1st Round Pick

On June 18, 2007, the Nashville Predators traded Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2007 1st Round Pick that ended up being Jonathon Blum. Blum ended up playing a total of five seasons with the Predators from 2010-11 to 2014-15.

Over that time Blum dressed in a total of 110 games only posting seven goals and 17 assists over that stretch. When you look at what the Nashville Predators gave up in exchange for Blum, it is not good at all.

We will only look at the same seasons for Timonen and Hartnell as what Blum played in Nashville for the purpose of this comparison.

Timonen played four seasons in Philadelphia before being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2014-15 season. In the last five seasons of his career, Timonen scored 21 goals and had 123 assists in 296 games played.

Then there is Hartnell, who played in 351 games for the Flyers over the same period of time and had 117 goals and 122 assists in those five seasons. Not only what he brought to the ice as far as production, but his veteran presence was missed in the locker room for the Predators, as was Timonen’s who was a former team captain.

Both of these veteran players were given up by the Nashville Predators in exchange for Blum, who had a very short five-year NHL career and did not generate near the offense as what was expected of him.

#1 Nashville Predators Trade for Kyle Turris

On November 7, 2017, the Nashville Predators announced that they had traded Vladislav Kamenev, Samuel Girard, and a 2018 2nd-round draft pick in exchange for Kyle Turris.

Turris was at that point in a contract that had an AAV of $3.5 million.

After playing in 65 games for the Predators that season and posting 13 goals and 29 assists,  Poile thought that he would be a key piece to the future of the franchise and signed him to a six-year/$6.0 million AAV contract. Nashville Predators fans remember how this panned out for the organization.

Turris went on to play two more years with the team and only playing in 117 games. In a total of 182 games in a Predators sweater, Turris had 29 goals and 67 assists.

The Nashville Predators gave up an up-and-coming defenseman in Girard in this trade. Girard has played with the Colorado Avalanche since this trade and has a total of 20 goals and 118 assists in his time with the Avalanche.

This was a trade and contract that Nashville Predators fans have not forgotten about and one that continues to haunt them as Turris had his contract bought out by the Predators on October 7, 2020.

The buyout did save the Predators money in the long run, but it always hurts to pay for a player that is retired. The Nashville Predators continue to pay Turris’ $2 million per year through the 2027-28 season.