In lieu of a big free agent signing, the Nashville Predators made a splashy trade this offseason, shipping long-time soldier Colton Sissons and the NHL's single-season hit king, Jeremy Lauzon, over to the Las Vegas Golden Knights to acquire Nicolas Hague, plus a conditional 2027 3rd round pick.
The Predators turned around and had Hague put pen to paper on a four-year, $22 million contract that makes him very well compensated. Now that he's making $5.5 million a year, will his game take that next step?
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Hague is a player who is doing most of his work at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. He's not a power play force, or really an offensive play driver. He'll be asked to improve and increase a lot of the good things he was doing in Vegas.
Last year, he was playing around 17:00 minutes a night. Without a real defensive force in the top 4, Hague is likely going to be paired with Roman Josi or Brady Skjei to start to year. He'd provide reinforcements defensively for either and allow them to be more offensively engaged, if he can handle playing 18 to 20 minutes a night.
Is He Less Than We Bargained For?
Being a defenseman in the NHL isn't all about points and offensive production. However, a player making $5.5 mil per year with a career high of 17 points, coming off of two straight seasons of 12 points, raises some eyebrows.
In Vegas, his zone starts were sitting at 50/50, and his possession metrics are pretty average, so expecting a big jump in points might be asking for too much. He will be playing with different teammates, a different coach, and a different style in Nashville.
In Andrew Brunette's system, the defense has to be engaged and be the ones helping to spring the offense. Hague probably has the skill for this, but we're still waiting to see it happen.
He Can't Lose His Spot
Hague is in a tough position to start off his Predators career. Traded for two well-liked players, and probably overpaid, he can't afford a slow start. If that happens, and he drops from a top-four role into a bottom pair fixture, then this trade is going to look pretty disastrous.
While he and Lauzon are clearly different players, Lauzon's physicality helped him carve out an obvious role. If Hague doesn't, then this deal won't be one that looks good or be easy to get out from under, thanks to the contract.
Hague has to up his play and show that his game has more elements to it than the average fan assumes. At the start of the year, he'll get every opportunity to show this, and then some. He must take advantage.
Hague needs to seize this chance, for his sake, and probably for Barry Trotz as well, who could use a solid win in his trade column after taking down the defense piece by piece last season. This is a make or break year.