Starting goalies aren't usually the guys you see moving in midseason trades, but when you're at the bottom of the league or close to it like the Nashville Predators currently are, you have to consider everything.
That means even thinking of trading your franchise goalie Juuse Saros, even when you have no real options to cover for him if he goes. He's also in the first year of an 8-year contract extension with $7.7 million due per season, which means that the Predators will surely have to eat some money in order to make a deal done.
There's also the fact that the Predators aren't out of the playoff race. Just 5 points separate them from a Wild Card playoff spot, and frankly the Predators can and have been playing a lot better as of late.
That's all of the reasons that the Nashville Predators shouldn't try to trade Juuse Saros. But there are reasons to trade him, too.
Making the case for the Nashville Predators to shake up NHL trade market and deal Juuse Saros
The Edmonton Oilers decided that they need a goalie for a real playoff push. They turned to Tristan Jarry, from the Pittsburg Penguins. The deal was struck and Jarry went to Edmonton, with an AHL player. In return the Oilers sent Stuart Skinner, their goalie, a 2029 2nd round pick, and well traveled by reliable NHL defenseman Brett Kulak.
So one goalie, who is really more of a 65-35 tandem starter, gets a lead goalie back, along with an NHL defender, and a future 2nd round pick. That's a pretty decent haul for a goalie who has only won more than 30 games once in his career, and that was back in the 2021-2022 season.
In comparison, Saros has done that three times, is a load carrying starter, and generally just has better numbers than Jarry, and Skinner for that matter.
Now of course, this means giving up on the season, which is something that Barry Trotz seems unwilling to do at the moment, but he has proven that he is amenable to giving up players to get some assests back.
The Spencer Stastney trade is a small move on the grand scale of NHL trades, but it is a quite signal that if he gets an offer that he likes, Trotz will take it. Over the last few years he's proven unafraid to make a trade, and willing to stick to his guns to get a proper return when he has an elite player.
In Saros, Trotz has a true asset. A No.1 goalie who is signed long term, and enough money to eat some cap space if possible. Nobody is rooting for the Predators not to make a turnaround, but if there is one player who could turn into a franchise resetting move, right now it is Saros.
Now the overall probability of this happening is very unlikely, but Trotz is fully aware that the bar for the goalie market has been set, and it has been set pretty high. With a player like Saros, if the season is lost, you could create 1st round picks, and viable NHL players coming back to Nashville, and more.
Saros is safe...but just for now.