I've kind of given up on trying to predict what Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz is going to do this offseason. He just traded for another aging veteran in Erik Haula, which no one can seem to make sense of other than adding another breathing body to the locker room.
With the trade for Haula, the Predators are down to approximately $14 million in projected cap space according to PuckPedia. Still enough to sign a big free agent, or go big game hunting, if Trotz chooses. He has hinted that this isn't going to be his offseason strategy, but I don't necessarily buy that.
The Predators are in such a precarious position. They're in no man's land. They're in the middle of the proverbial desert and Trotz has to make sure he doesn't get fooled by an oasis that's actually just a mirage. His remaining cap space and his plethora of draft capital at his disposal leaves him with the room to make a power move for a major player.
Nashville Predators stuck in the desert and Trotz might not be able to resist the urge to spend more money
I kind of get the notion that trading for Haula means Trotz isn't going for a major free agency signing, otherwise he wouldn't have gone after Haula to begin with. It would've made more sense to preserve as much cap space as possible for the big fish. Now Trotz has very little wiggle room to make a "big splash".
Instead, Trotz seems to be going for the strategy of adding another veteran to help mentor the younger players. Haula fills the spot of Matthew Wood who was in the starting lineup at the end of last season.
The Predators are already in a world of hurt right now tied up into some long-term contracts they can't really escape. They just have to hope guys like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault flip a switch and play up to their level they played at before coming to Nashville last season.
Even if a bunch of these players improve their levels of play in 2025-26, it's still not enough for me to believe this team is going to go toe-to-toe against the upper echelon teams. At very best case scenario in my mind, they're a team in the mucky middle that might get lucky and finish near a wildcard spot. And that's an extremely optimistic expectation.
A really strong draft is priority #1 for this front office, free agency might be a no show
Trotz is better suited using his draft capital to make some franchise changing selections for the long-term future. The Predators have three first-round picks and they need all three of them quite frankly. The prospect pool has gotten thin and lacks much superstar talent aside from Tanner Molendyk.
Going after Marco Rossi in a trade is perfectly fine by me if Trotz wants to get aggressive there, but that just seems totally far-fetched. Nothing wrong with trying though. I just don't see a lot of great options in the free agency market. Trades are a different story and more complex. You can get creative and possibly come up with something really beneficial to spend some of that $14 million.
In the end I'm expecting Trotz to mostly sit out the offseason shenanigans of offseason free agency, and that's probably the best strategy. You still need some of that cap space to re-sign RFA Luke Evangelista. Other than that, keep the money into the season and watch it play out.
I'm more a fan of the "wait and see" approach with this team. Go into next season with mostly this same roster, aside from Haula, and see what happens. The expectations are low anyway, so there shouldn't be nearly as much pressure as there was at this time last year. Who knows, maybe the team comes out swinging and gets fans excited again.
In the pit of my stomach I just have a feeling Trotz isn't going to be able to resist the urge of making another splash with some of that $14 million. I'd rather him resist that urge and instead focus on having a great draft class come to the prospect pool that needs it.
Trotz's stock couldn't be any lower right now among the fans. He'll always be adored as the team's first head coach and class act of the organization, but his stock as leader of the front office is in need of a huge upgrade. Not sure how he improves it this offseason aside from pulling off a creative trade and having a really strong draft class perceived by the scouts.