Arguing for and against the Nashville Predators possibly trading Steven Stamkos

While I'm a firm believer that even with the Nashville Predators creeping to within two points of the wildcard picture, they should still be actively pursuing numerous trades that might even include future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos.

The latest inside news from Pierre LeBrun of TSN says that Stamkos is suddenly willing to waive his No Move Clause with a short list of desired teams he would go to, with two of those teams being Central Division rivals.

First of all, I never like the idea of trading away high impact players like Stamkos to a division rival and to a team you could very well face in the playoffs. Now we can argue that if Stamkos is traded from the Predators in the next couple of days, well then the Predators won't be making the playoffs anyway.

That's a fair point, but still my overall stance is to not be dealing Hall of Famers on your team to divisional rivals. Those offers better be sweet as pie and loaded with future NHL talent for the Predators to even consider doing business with the Dallas Stars or Minnesota Wild as it pertains to Steven Stamkos.

Steven Stamkos isn't pushing his way out of Nashville, but is being smart to have a Plan B if Barry Trotz approaches with a trade plan

LeBrun makes it clear on Insider Trading that this isn't a case of a player trying to strong arm his way out and is unhappy in their current situation:

""He (Stamkos) controls his fate here, and he's not asking out. He's happy in Nashville, but in preparation for if Predators management goes to him.""

Pierre LeBrun, TSN Insider Trading

This reads to me like Stamkos' camp is just covering their bases and don't want to get blindsided so they're getting ahead of this. If GM Barry Trotz decides he wants to start burning the house down even in the midst of a wildcard race that is very possible (35% odds according to MoneyPuck), then Stamkos has a list of teams to do business with.

We don't even know for sure if Trotz is really interested in trading Stamkos to begin with. He has said in the past that all options are seemingly on the table to explore, but the team is also two points out of a playoff spot. If the Predators were 10, 8 or even 6 points out then it would intice Trotz even more to explore a blockbuster trading of Stamkos.

Here's where I preach caution and to tread lightly if you're the Predators front office and Trotz, who has already announced he's stepping down as soon as a replacement is found. The Predators have to hold a strong position here at the negotiating table and dictate the terms.

This shouldn't be a situation where the Predators come off as desperate to unloaded a player who doesn't want to be here, isn't producing and is a distraction for the locker room. Stamkos is very clearly none of those three things. This is a delicate situation to say the least.

The Predators are just so close to the playoff bubble that I just can't see Trotz going through with this unless some insane offer comes along. That means no salary retention first and foremost. You cannot be retaining salary on Stamkos and act live the desperate team here.

However, it also really depends on what kind of impact player are you offering in return to Nashville to let go of Stamkos? They need centers badly, and one that can step in immediately or at least have a promising trajectory for the near future.

Then you need draft compensation, and maybe even multiple picks. If Nashville were to receive an offer for an impact center prospect that has high NHL potential and multiple high round draft picks, then maybe I would be willing to retain some salary. But even then, desperate teams are the ones who retain salaries on players, and Nashville shouldn't be deseperate to trade Stamkos at this juncture.

Ultimately there are too many factors playing into keeping Stamkos over trading him away. He's happy in Nashville and isn't pushing his way out. His bounce back from Year 1 with Nashville to being on pace for 40 goals has been a major factor into why this team has a chance to go from 68 points to the Stanley Cup Playoffs the following year, and the asking price from Trotz should probably be too high anyway.

As a reminder, the Predators have only had three instances of players in their history surpass 40 goals in a season; Filip Forsberg twice and Matt Duchene once. Forsberg's holds the single season franchise record with 48 goals set in 2023-24.

Stamkos has a good chance to break 40 goals this season, but even if he cools off some then he'll still most likely pass Viktor Arvidsson's 34-goal season, which would be fourth-most in Preds single season history. Do we really want to trade that away right in the thick of a playoff race? Not unless a team is willing to take on that entire remaining contract or really just give away a lot. I don't see a team willing to go that far and take on that much of a risk.

If one of these preferred destinations for Stamkos comes to Trotz with an insane offer then it's going to be quite the dilemma for the Predators front office, though. I don't envy them having to make that decision that you can make valid arguments for and against.