In what now looks crystal clear that the Ryan Johansen trade was a salary cap dump by the Nashville Predators, Alex Galchenyuk will not be re-signed by the team.
Admittedly, the first thing I’m curious about is who bought a Predators Galchenyuk jersey, and if so, how much are you charging for it?
Per a report from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Nashville Predators will not sign UFA Galchenyuk and this was just a roster spot free up by the Colorado Avalanche. Nothing to do with the Predators choosing a player they wanted in return for Johansen.
Galchenyuk was the one-for-one player swap between the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche in Saturday’s trade that frees up an additional $4M in cap space and a projected $17.047 million according to PuckPedia.com.
Alex Galchenyuk, We Hardly Knew Ye…
Although this seemed likely that the journeyman Galchenyuk wasn’t going to make a serious roster push or be a game changer for the franchise, it does highlight another instance of the Predators losing a player for really nothing in return. Not even a draft pick.
This also brings back the disdain Predators fans haven’t let go of about losing Eeli Tolvanen for nothing on waivers on December 12 and then proceeded to rack up 16 goals with the Seattle Kraken, over half the amount of goals he scored for the Predators in three full seasons prior.
Obviously this was about being desperate for cap relief from the Predators standpoint, and just taking your lumps. Barry Trotz, who is about to be officially named the second General Manager in franchise history, knew that making room for Johansen on the changing Predators roster at center wasn’t going to happen.
Hopefully this is just one chess piece being moved as part of a bigger plan that we’ll see unfold in the coming week, but either way, it was all about getting that cap relief and making room for young guns Thomas Novak, Cody Glass and Juuso Parssinen.
A lot of faith is being put into the youth to continue to build off the momentum they built down the second half of last season, and to not have the proverbial “sophomore slump”. You’re starting centers with where we sit now look like Glass, Novak, Colton Sissons and “To Be Determined”, but would lean toward it being Parssinen.
As for Galchenyuk, he hits free agency and will look to land on his 10th NHL team since joining the league in 2012-13. A former 3rd overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens who has a NHL career high 56 points in 2015-16, but got into just 11 games last season with Colorado and logged zero points.
The Predators will have plenty of competition for bottom six roles in training camp and could use a trade to boost their depth ( I like Ross Colton from Tampa), but clearly Galchenyuk was just about the Avalanche wanting to free up a roster spot and not about Nashville having any desire for Galchenyuk.
Even if Galchenyuk was sticking around in a Nashville uniform, who does he take a roster spot from. He can play wing, so maybe “fan favorite” Cole Smith? Seriously, let’s just keep Smith, I guess.
On the surface, it looks like the Avalanche won this trade easily because they took advantage of a desperate team by getting a veteran center who is one season removed from a 60-plus point season, a master in the faceoff circle, leadership qualities for just $4 million AAV.
I’m reserving judgement and indifferent about all of this until I see the full master plan unfold after the NHL Draft and free agency shortly after.