Last Minute Trade Deadline Plans for Nashville Predators: Trenin, Carrier, Barrie

One major chip fell off the board earlier this week when the Nashville Predators were able to come to a contract agreement with Tommy Novak, but there remains other key 2024 free agents who are on the trade block for Friday's trade deadline.

The Predators have seven unrestricted free agents pending for 2024, and Dante Fabbro who is due to become a restricted free agent. That's not even counting restricted free agents that are currently playing with the Milwaukee Admirals, which includes Philip Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen.

An eight-game winning streak just got snapped on Tuesday night to the Montreal Canadiens, but the Predators did squeak out with a point and are tied at 73 points with the Vegas Golden Knights in the wildcard race.

General Manager Barry Trotz has the arduous task of playing both sides of the fence. He owes it to this group of players to see this playoff push through, so he can't just gut this roster and squash this. However, he also has to think long-term here and not be unrealistic in the fact that he can't keep everyone he wants.

Let's take a look at the trade block players for the Predators who are going to go down to the wire on Friday to either stick around in Nashville or get traded.

Yakov Trenin will be Hard to Keep Unless he takes Team-Friendly Deal

Yakov Trenin is a fan-favorite, and rightfully so. He plays the game so hard and does so many little things effectively. He hits, he forechecks and he is vital to the Predators' penalty kill. Losing him would be a downgrade in those areas.

However, it really comes down to what Trenin is seeking in a contract. If he's willing to stick around what he's making now, or even take a slight decrease in pay, then the Predators can probably work something out. That's probably what Trotz is negotiating hard for coming down the wire, but the ball might be in Trenin's court.

Trenin in his own right might feel inclined to move on and get a pay increase in the process. There is talks that Trotz wants to move on to re-sign other pending free agents now that Novak is taken care of. Trenin probably fits into that conversation.

However, if the two sides can't come together before Friday's deadline, then Trenin probably has to be dealt. You can get a mid to 2nd-round draft pick for Trenin from a playoff contending team who needs more physicality in their depth.

I'm 50/50 on this one. I really don't know what to expect on if Trenin gets re-signed, but I have been talking about this possibility of losing Trenin since December.

You Cannot Move Past Trade Deadline Without Trading Lankinen

I don't see a pathway forward that makes sense with keeping Kevin Lankinen in a Predators sweater. Not because he's a bad backup to Juuse Saros, but actually the opposite. Because he has outplayed his backup status and probably deserves to be a 1B type of goaltender somewhere else.

With Yaroslav Askarov on the cusp of being a full-time NHL goalie, and with the trade talks cooling off with Saros, Lankinen is the odd man out. And he's due to be a UFA this summer.

You can't push aside the importance of having a backup goaltender you can trust when going into the playoffs. With the exception of Connor Hellebuyck for Winnipeg and Thatcher Demko for Vancouver, every playoff team either has a quality one-two punch in their crease or is in search for one.

Lankinen can be valuable on the trade market for that reason. He can be a quality insurance policy for your playoff run. I think about a team like the Colorado Avalanche with Alexander Georgiev. Do they really trust Georgiev to be good enough to get them to a Stanley Cup, which is that team's ultimate ceiling.

Even the teams who are in search of a starting goalie might have to settle for a lesser prize of Lankinen. Think the Devils and their goalie mess, or the Hurricanes who have juggled five different goalies this season.

Lankinen should be able to fetch you a mid-round draft pick. Just get something out of him, then you call up Askarov to backup Saros the rest of the way. I know that would hurt the Admirals playoff run, but you have to have the NHL club as the top priority.

Barrie Being Traded Looks Inevitable

I'm not going to lie about this when I say I'm getting pretty exhausted talking about Tyson Barrie being traded. Obviously the interest wasn't there when these leaks first came out in December, but now with a cheaper price tag, Barrie has probably played his last game in a Predators uniform.

Barrie remains on Frank Seravalli's trade targets board on Daily Faceoff, sitting at No.23 and the highest ranked Predators player.

"The good news for Barrie is he’s incredibly well respected as a locker room influence, one of the most connected players in the game, and every day that passes he gets just a little bit less expensive on the salary cap."

Once it was pretty clear that no one was beating down the door to acquire Barrie in a trade, Trotz had to move forward with the veteran mostly as a healthy scratch. You don't want a trade asset getting needlessly injured, and you certainly didn't want to take away ice time from Alexandre Carrier or Dante Fabbro.

With time running out to get something done, look for Barrie to finally get out of Nashville, but not for anything substantial in return. He's a standup guy and class act and he deserves to be an every night starter somewhere. I wish it would've ended more smoothly for both sides in Nashville.

Sherwood is an Important Depth Piece that Might Be Retained for Cheap

I've flip flopped on Kiefer Sherwood and what should happen with him. I absolutely love his tenacity and you never have to wonder if Sherwood took a game off in the effort department. You need trustworthy players to win seven-game playoff series.

With that said, Sherwood's future kind of hinges on what happens with Trenin, who I covered earlier. I don't see a scenario where both are kept because they play similar styles. Sherwood should be easier to retain, and I actually he has a similar ceiling to Trenin.

If Trenin wants more money than you're comfortable with, then I'm testing the waters with Sherwood. It's defininitely not ideal to lose both, so Sherwood might be the more realistic player to keep in Nashville for a cheaper price, but similar upside.

Sherwood has 16 points in 49 games, while Trenin has 14 points in 59 games. Trenin brings more value defensively and on the penalty kill, so that has to be considered as well. They also have nearly the same amount of hits on the season, while Sherwood plays over three minutes less of ice time to Trenin.

It really comes down to who is more expensive. I'm going with the more affordable Sherwood if it comes down to choosing between him or a more expensive Trenin.