To Stay or To Go? Tracking These Nashville Predators 2024 Free Agents

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Instead of being sellers at the 2024 trade deadline, the Nashville Predators forged ahead while in midst of a franchise best 18-game point streak. In the end, the Predators made the playoffs, but lost in the first round again.

There's no time for the Predators front office to reflect too much on last season, the highs and the lows, because there's a list of pending unrestricted free agents to decide on, and not to mention Juuse Saros who has just one season left on his contract and has the highest trade value this offseason.

General Manager Barry Trotz completed his first season leading an NHL front office with a lot to love. The veteran acquisitions he made definitely paid dividends to the team's regular season success, most notably Ryan O'Reilly and Gustav Nyquist who joined forces with Filip Forsberg on Nashville's top line.

Choosing Andrew Brunette as his first head coach also appears to be a smashing success. Brunette is one of the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, the NHL's coach of the year. And deservedly so.

Now the overwhelming question is, how does Trotz keep the momentum going forward while also avoiding the trap of signing any catastrophic long-term contracts that end up being death sentences like David Poile did a few times?

Time to look to my top-5 free agents for this offseason and where I think they'll end up for 2024-25. I'll save the multiple scenarios for Saros for another day because technically he isn't a 2024 free agent, even though it feels like he is.

5. Kiefer Sherwood, $775K AAV in 2023-24

Sherwood was one of the many examples of players enjoying individually career high seasons in Brunette's offensive system. As part of Nashville's "energy" fourth line, Sherwood flourished in his role along with Michael McCarron and Cole Smith.

Although it shouldn't be incredibly difficult to keep Sherwood in Nashville for at least another year, I wouldn't blame him for testing the market if Nashville isn't willing to give him a decent pay raise. After all, he did earn it and he's only 29.

If I'm Trotz, I would stick to my guns and not go multi-year for Sherwood. You give him a slight pay bump and another year and see if he accepts. As much as a love the player, he's still a fringe fourth line player in the NHL. You can't pour too much money into that type of a role player.

I'm kind of 50/50 on if Sherwood is retained or not for 2024-25, but I'll slightly lean towards yes with a modest increase in pay. Cole Smith got a contract extension that put him from $775,000 to $1M, and I can see the same happening for Sherwood.

If you can make it happen and the numbers make sense, then you would prefer keeping the fourth line intact for next season. But I'm definitely not overspending if Sherwood wants to test the open market.

4. Jason Zucker, $5.3M AAV in 2023-24, Acquired at 24' Trade Deadline

I look at Zucker as a player Trotz went out and got just for the 2024 playoff push, and to have an extra veteran to win in the playoffs. He took his chance for Zucker by only surrendering a sixth round pick in this year's draft.

Zucker is 32-years-old and how much does Trotz want to keep relying on aging veterans probably past their prime? Also, how much money do you really want to dedicate to an aging player like that, which will hold you back from addressing other areas of concern?

I just don't see it plausible that Nashville re-signs Zucker this offseason. He's a great guy to have around and I don't think he was necessarily a bust after the trade deadline. He did score a goal in the playoffs, but was he enough to move the needle as an impact forward? I don't think so.

Zucker was a very undervalued rental at the trade deadline for the Predators, and now you move on and wish him the best. Keeping Zucker will just cost too much for my liking.

3. Anthony Beauvillier, $4.15M in 2023-24, Acquired at 24' Trade Deadline

Does Trotz decide to keep at least one of his trade deadline rentals between Anthony Beauvillier or Jason Zucker. I can see Beauvillier being cheaper to retain and he's only 26-years-old.

The Predators offense picked the worst time to go on an offensive drought in the first round of the playoffs, but at least Beauvillier scored a goal and was very noticeable trying to generate pressure on Canucks defenders.

Beauvillier had nine shots on goal, scored once and also had an assist in the six-game elimination to the Canucks. He wasn't able to do much in his 15 regular season games, but how much should he be given a pass considering he had switched to so many teams?

The Islanders gave Beauvillier a decent pay raise in 2021 bumping his AAV from $2.1 million to his current $4.150 million. Where does Trotz see his value at now as a General Manager, and not his Head Coach?

Beauvillier has a history with Trotz on the Islanders so I can see a scenario where Trotz finds a way to bargain with Beauvillier to keep him around for another year at a manageable price. Not saying it's a game-changer to keep him around, but I would be interested to see how Beauvillier benefits from sticking around through training camp and getting more time with this franchise.

I would also suspect that Beauvillier would prefer to stay in Nashville even if it's for less money. I can't imagine he wants to joins his fourth team in the last two seasons.

This isn't me saying Beauvillier is better than Zucker if Trotz chooses between the two on who to retain. It's about age and price. I think he's re-signed to a one-year deal.

#2: Kevin Lankinen, $2M AAV in 2023-24, Two Years as Saros' Backup

If Juuse Saros indeed gets traded like many are coming around to thinking is a high probability, then Kevin Lankinen becomes much more valuable to keep around in the post-Saros era. At least for one season, but maybe two.

Lankinen has been a great teammate and quality backup to Saros. I never felt like the team was giving away two points when Lankinen stepped in to give Saros some rest. That doesn't mean I'm saying he's on Saros' level, but that Lankinen is worthy of getting many more starts.

Trotz and the Predators have made it abundantly clear they want to work hard to keep Saros and hammer out a new deal this summer. That could be Trotz just holding his cards close to his vest, but all of this will decide what happens with Lankinen.

I can't see a scenario at all that Lankinen is kept along with Saros. Lankinen is going to get interest as someone's starter for 2024-25. This is the main reason why I'm so adamant and open to trading Saros. Because they can acquire serious assets for Saros, while still having a worthy starter in Lankinen to be the placeholder until Yaroslav Askarov is ready for fulltime NHL duty. I just don't think he's there yet.

Ballpark estimate, I can see Lankinen being retained from somewhere in the $3 to $3.5 million range. An increase from his current $2 million, and in the range of other similar goalies when you look at the highest paid goalies from 2023-24. I wouldn't go much higher than $3.5 million for Lankinen.

You also have to to think that Lankinen might want more than another one-year rental deal this time around, so two years might be what it takes. That gives you plenty of time to test Askarov alongside Lankinen for the next two seasons.

This is all a moot point if Trotz goes all in on keeping Saros as the franchise goalie and pays him well, making Saros one of the higher paid goalies in the NHL. In 2023-24, the highest paid goalie was Sergei Bobrovsky at $10 million, followed by Andrei Vasilevskiy at $9 million.

I'm seeing Saros getting at least $7 million, and that would be a bargain price when looking at comparable goalie salaries. Saros probably commands and deserves more based on the market.

If that happens, Lankinen is easily gone and Askarov becomes trade bait as well. I'll stick to my guns that Saros is ulimately traded, but it could go either way and is hard to predict.

#1: Alexandre Carrier, $2.5M AAV in 2023-24, Passed on Trading him at 24' Trade Deadline

A major gamble at the 2024 trade deadline for the Predators was choosing not to trade Alexandre Carrier. I was shocked to see that, but Carrier did prove to be valuable afterwards and even in the playoffs against the Canucks. He scored a goal, and the Predators defense certainly wasn't the issue, it was the strength.

The Predators front office treated Carrier like their own rental in their playoff push, and now they have to live with the consequences. I think he's lost in free agency. So many teams are going to be interested in Carrier's services, and the Predators are running out of money if they're also looking for impact forwards and say they want to retain Saros as well.

In hindsight considering you only made it to six games of the first round, Trotz should've just traded Carrier. You can't live in "what ifs", but I'm sure he wants that decision back.

If Carrier is gone this offseason, that still leaves the Predators defensive corps in decent shape moving forward. Spencer Stastney was outstanding and should be a fulltime NHL player now, and Dante Fabbro is signed through 2024-25.

What will really hurt about losing Carrier is his best hockey is probably still ahead of him, and breaking up his pairing with Jeremy Lauzon will be difficult to replace. That leaves your right side defense as Fabbro and Luke Schenn. Lauzon can play the right side, and Tyson Barrie is almost certainly gone as well in unrestricted free agency.

So the Predators have to find themselves another quality right defenseman for 2024-25 either from their prospect pool or in offseason free agency if Carrier is lost. That will be the top priority, along with figuring out what to do with Saros, this offseason.

One prospect I will bring up that I can see making his highly-anticipated NHL debut in 2024-25 is Ryan Ufko. The 21-year-old defenseman was drafted in the fourth round of 2021 by the Predators and has already made his Milwaukee Admirals debut with 12 total games and seven points.

Let me refresh you on this list and who I think stays and who goes among these five top free agents in 2024 for the Predators: