Ranking the Five Best Trades in Nashville Predators History

The Nashville Predators made quite the moves leading up to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. This was one of their busier years as they were trying to retool and prevent from going into a complete rebuild.

Over the years, there have been some pretty horrendous trades made by the front office of this franchise. However, there have also been some trades that have paid dividends for the Nashville Predators.

We have already taken a look at what I think are the Top 5 Worst Trades In Nashville Predators History, now let’s look at five trades that I feel have been some of the best trades made by General Manager David Poile and the Predators organization.

#5 Nashville Acquires Draft Pick Resulting in Saros

This is another trade that on the surface does not look like much, as the Predators traded a first-round draft pick for Paul Gaustad and a fourth round pick the following year from the Buffalo Sabres. Now anytime you trade for a draft pick you run the risk of that pick being wasted on a player that does not make it in the NHL.

That was not the case with this one. With the pick acquired in the trade, the Nashville Predators drafted Juuse Saros. I guess you could say this trade was in fact a win, win, win for the Predators as Gaustad skated in 248 games for the Predators, Saros is the current starting goaltender, and Buffalo drafted young Mark Jankowski, whom the Predators have since acquired in a recent trade.

Out of the three players that ended up being involved in the trade, the former Vezina Trophy candidate, Juuse Saros, has been the most impactful. At 28 years-old, Saros already has 286 games to his name posting a remarkable 2.58 goals against average and .919 save percentage.

#4 Forsberg Acquired from Washington Capitals

Prior to even making his first start in the NHL the Washington Capitals traded Filip Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in return for Martin Erat and Michael Latta.

Playing ten and a half seasons in Nashville prior to being traded, Erat skated in 723 games, had 164 goals and 320 assists. Forsberg has surpassed Erats number of goals and points in just 616 games in a Predators sweater.

While those two players involved in the trade had illustrious careers in the NHL, Latta went on to skate in 113 games and only had four goals and 13 assists in his career. Latta last played in the NHL during the 2015-16 season.

Forsberg’s statistics did not increase as much this season as many expected due to the concussion symptoms that he dealt with after hitting his head on the ice on February 11th.

#3 Nashville Predators Trade for Sullivan

February 16, 2004 is a day that Predators fans will remember as the day that Steve Sullivan was traded to Nashville in exchange for two draft picks that went to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sullivan was a strong winger that skated in 317 games. Tallying almost a point per game while in Nashville, Sullivan had 100 goals and 163 assists for a total 263 points.

Another statistic that shows Sullivan’s ability to showcase his offensive ability while also helping on the back end is the fact that he was a +34 in his time with the Predators.

With the picks that Nashville gave to Chicago in exchange for Sullivan, Chicago drafted Ryan Garlock and Mike Blunden. Garlock never played in the NHL and Blunden skated in 127 career games with five different teams.

Sullivan is eighth in franchise history in power play goals with 37 and second in hat tricks with four.

Seeing what Sullivan produced compared to Blunden’s seven goals and six assists, the Nashville Predators were the winners of this trade.

#2 Nashville Predators Trade Two Draft Picks for One

Another trade that sticks out in Predators history happened in 2008 when the Predators traded two draft picks in the 2008 NHL Draft to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a better pick in the 2nd round.

When David Poile made that trade, he had his eyes set on a young Swiss born defenseman by the name of Roman Josi.

Now it should go without saying that Josi, the current captain of the Nashville Predators, has been a pivotal piece to the success of this team in his time here.

The two picks that the Predators traded to Arizona yielded Colby Robak and Mathieu Brodeur. Robak played in 47 NHL games and Brodeur never made a NHL start.

In 827 career regular season games with Nashville, Josi has 158 goals and 443 assists. His veteran presence and ability to jump into play in the offensive zone makes him a top tier defenseman in the NHL.