Nashville Predators Make First Major Trade of 2024, Send Yakov Trenin to Avalanche
The writing appeared to be on the wall that Yakov Trenin was on his way out from Nashville before the 2024 Trade Deadline.
This one is going to be a hard one for fans to stomach, but Yakov Trenin is being traded by the Nashville Predators to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman prospect Jeremy Hanzel and a 2025 3rd-Round pick, as reported by Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.
The @Avalanche acquire forward Yakov Trenin and the rights to unsigned draft pick Graham Sward from the @PredsNHL in exchange for defenseman Jeremy Hanzel and a 2025 3rd-round draft pick
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) March 7, 2024
Trenin was a 17-goal guy two years ago.
The Avalanche also receiver former 5th-Round draft pick in 2022 by the Predators, Defenseman prospect Graham Sward. Sward is in the midst of a 73-point season in the WHL.
With the trade acquisition of Anthony Beauvillier earlier on Thursday, it really raised doubts that Trenin would be retained. Due to be an unrestricted free agent this summer and looking for a pay raise from his current $1.7 million per year, Trenin wasn't going to be able to stay in Nashville.
Unfortunately I saw this coming a few months ago that Trenin was looking like the odd man out and wasn't going to be retained.
Preds Really Had No Choice but to Trade Trenin
Trenin got off to a really slow start to 2023-24, but was starting to mildly heat up as of late. Even so, Trenin still only had three goals over his last 30 games. He put up 17 goals just two seasons ago.
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As for what the Avalanche are seeing in Trenin, it's physicality for their bottom six for their upcoming pursuit of a Stanley Cup in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Trenin's offensive woes aside, the guy is an absolute tenacious hitter and forechecker. And let's be honest, the Avalanche aren't adding Trenin for more offense, but for the other stuff he does.
This certainly downgrades Nashville in the physicality department by losing Trenin, and hurts their already suspect penalty kill which ranks 24th. Head Coah Andrew Brunette has a big void to fill on his penalty kill now.
With that said, the Predators really had no choice here. They couldn't risk getting nothing for Trenin in the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. The Predators might have upgraded slightly on offense by swapping Beauvillier and Trenin, but it will take some time to know truly if it will be a net positive or negative.
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Hanzel, a 6th-Round draft pick from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, has an offensive element to his game according to his scouting report on Elite Prospects. It will be a long journey for Hanzel to work his way up the minor league ranks and up the Predators' prospect pool.
Hanzel has played his last four seasons in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds and currently has 50 points in 58 games in 2023-24. He definitely showcases offensive upside in his game.
So the Predators and Avalanche essentially swapped defenseman prospects, but the key piece here obviously for the Predators is the 3rd-Round pick for 2025. Trenin will make the Avalanche a deeper and more rugged team for the playoffs, so the instant gratification goes to them in this trade.
The draft pick shouldn't just be tossed to the waste side as being insignificant. That is a very fair return for Trenin, so while you don't like seeing a fan favorite go, you have to be pleased with the draft pick more than anything in this trade for the Predators.