Although the Nashville Predators are very much in "win now" mode thanks to their free agency haul, General Manager Barry Trotz is still showing he has the long game in mind as well.
In other words, Trotz is trying to play both sides of the coin. Not an easy task to accomplish for a general manager. Usually you're either mortgaging the future in hopes of winning big, or you're investing in prospects and draft capital to eventually achieve the ultimate prize way down the road.
Here's my thinking on what Trotz is doing; first off let's address the elephant in the room of the Yaroslav Askarov trade. It got a little testy for a few days, but Trotz got it done quickly and actually didn't make out all that bad, all things considered.
This could've ended much worse than it did for Trotz & Preds
This trade came out better than I actually hoped, even though Trotz did probably have a higher asking price in mind. The problem is, when a highly-touted goalie prospect demands a trade with training camp coming up soon, you can't have this distraction linger and you have to act fast.
Also, it's an important factor for me that Askarov wasn't Trotz's original draft pick. That was David Poile's. Askarov went the abrupt route of forcing his way out, and Trotz wanted to act fast rather than keep the distraction around into training camp. Furthermore, Askarov wasn't going to report to AHL training camp, unless he was just bluffing to force Trotz's hand.
The best part about this trade is acquiring another first-round pick, even if it is top-10 protected. The Predators currently have three first-round picks for the 2025 Entry Draft. That is massive bargaining chips for another trade down the road, which is why I keep saying that Trotz is playing chess here with the long game in mind.
Nashville just went out and signed Stamkos, Marchessault, and Skjei. They're all in right now.
— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) August 23, 2024
And they also own THREE first-rounders in 2025.
You just know Barry Trotz will be big game hunting on the trade market this year.
The two prospects in Magnus Chrona and David Edstrom don't leap off the page at you, but they're serviceable. Edstrom has a strong two-way game at the center position and has upside to eventually be an everyday bottom-six core guy.
Chrona is the goalie prospect the Predators are getting in exchange. Obviously a downgrade from Askarov, but at least Trotz got a replacement goalie for the prospect pool. Chrona has four years of NCAA experience at the University of Denver, 31 games of AHL experience and nine games of NHL experience. He's a project for sure, but will be a good addition for the Milwaukee Admirals goalie pipeline.
Preds are built for the long-term and short-term future
Trotz made out well here despite maybe not handling it as well as he could have. We can question the decision of extending Juuse Saros for eight years, but in the end he was going with the proven commodity that has Vezina Trophy like skill level over the unproven prospect. He signed Scott Wedgewood purely as an insurance policy instead of going with Askarov as Saros' fulltime backup.
Where Trotz showed he's human and made a mistake was losing trade leverage. He could've started the season off with Askarov as the backup to Saros and hoped to build on Askarov's trade value throughout the season, but that could've also backfired if Askarov performed badly in his backup starts to Saros and had to be sent back down to the AHL. Then you're scrambling for a goalie on the open market and you don't have Wedgewood here.
Askarov clearly had no interest in going back to the AHL, even if it was temporarily. His new team, the San Jose Sharks, have already given him a two-year contract extension at $2 million, $500K more than what Wedgewood is getting from the Predators for two years. Interesting to say the least.
I like that Trotz keeps stockpiling draft picks while clearly showing he's all in for the next couple of years to win a Stanley Cup now. He has played both sides of the coin this offseason.
Interesting to note that the third-round pick that Nashville is sending to San Jose as part of this trade was acquired in the trade of Yakov Trenin to the Colorado Avalanche. Draft capital is the name of the game in making more trades down the line, and Trotz seems to realize that very well.
Looking at the 2025 draft picks by round for the Predators, they have three first-round picks, two second-round picks, and one pick each in rounds three, four, five and six.
Trotz is going to have his miststeps. Every general manager does. But overall Trotz has shown that he's not afraid to make bold moves and think way ahead of the curve, which is what it takes to build a Stanley Cup caliber roster.