What to expect from rest of Nashville Predators' Offseason after Free Agency

The dust has settled on 2024 NHL Free Agency, a time period during which the headlines were stolen by the Nashville Predators. The core as we see it is largely set for the 2024-25 season, but there are reasons to believe that Barry Trotz is not quite done making moves yet.

The Predators are now pressed against the salary cap after the signings on July 1, and Trotz himself even said that he might try to create some breathing room. Whether it is by trade or waivers he did not specify, but the team certainly has pieces they can offload to gain back a few extra bucks before the season starts.

You also cannot rule out the possibility of the Predators acquiring another big name player, as crazy as that might sound. The final spot in their top six is uncertain at this point, and there are guys they have been linked to such as Trevor Zegras, Martin Necas, and Nikolaj Ehlers, who have not been traded yet.

Nashville Predators are not fully done making decisions for this offseason

Let's make one thing clear -- just because you are done making trades and signings does not mean work is finished for the offseason. The Predators very well could have more to bring in that regard, but as far as making decisons that will affect the 2024-25 season, they still have lots of work to do.

First of all, making a move or few to clear cap is surely near the top of Trotz's to-do list, and is also, at least in theory, the simplest objective. Doing that will dictate what if any other big moves the Predators can make for the rest of the offseason, and once again, just makes sense given some of the guys currently on their roster.

The most obvious choice here is Dante Fabbro, who rotated in and out of the lineup last year and has never established a firm spot on the team. Finally moving on would benefit all parties here, the Predators would get his $2.5M AAV contract off the books, and Fabbro would surely get a better opportunity to play elsewhere.

When Fabbro has played, he has been a serviceable right-handed defenseman who has developed chemistry on the top pairing with Roman Josi. Why he has been scratched so often is a mystery, but there would undoubtedly be teams that could use his services, given how hard it is to find quality right-handed defensemen these days.

The other glaring expendable piece on the roster right now is Cody Glass, who also is on a contract of $2.5M AAV. His future on the team is also in doubt after a horrible 2023-24 campaign, and it is really hard to see how he fits on this roster with him being scratched in so many games last year, and the Predators being a win-now team.

I cannot discuss Glass without touching on the fact that he is such a genuinely good dude, and you always want guys like him to fully develop and succeed. But the NHL is a business, and when you weigh the pros and cons for the Predators, it is hard to say that they would not be better off freeing up the cap space and eliminating a major question from their team.

Now, I am much less certain that Trotz could find a trade partner for Glass than he could for Fabbro, and it is possible that Glass could be waived before the season starts. That is something nobody would want to see, but tough decisions have to be made sometimes, and the Predators may just have to bite that bullet for everyone's sake.

Bigger Decisions can be made once more cap space is cleared

Now, it is of course no requirement that the Predators make moves to clear cap before they can do anything else. But they would at least like to have a firm idea of what they are going to do in that regard as soon as they can, because there are some other big questions to answer in the next two plus months.

Most notably, what is going to happen with the final spot in the top six? Right now it looks like it will be Tommy Novak at second line center between Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, and Novak will have a ton of weight on his shoulders in that case.

Novak has had a positive and productive start to his career and has shown promise of being a top-six player, but his recent playoff performance left lots of people with concern moving forward. He struggled immensely in the physical game and will have to improve in that area, and even more so if he wants to play as a center.

Even if you believe in his future like I do, there is plenty of reason to doubt his ability to play a top-six role on a win-now team. As such, you cannot just put it past Trotz to make another move to improve bolster the forward core.

Trading for a center would be by far the most impactful, but Stamkos has said that he has entertained the idea of returning to center this year. If that were to happen, it would give the Predators so much more roster flexibility, and they could entertain several players they have had interest in, instead of only those who can play center.

Aside from that, another question looming over the team is what ends up happening with Yaroslav Askarov. Trotz is not going to deal him unless it is worth it, but Askarov is surely not a part of the Predators' future anymore and a good offer could come at any time, so we have to prepare for that possibility.

Ultimately, not much more is likely to happen this offseason except for the aforementioned move or two to free up cap space. And that is not a bad idea because if they see what they have at the start of the season and are not quite satisfied, they are not stuck with that group for the entirety of the season.

They can always use the time up until the 2025 Trade Deadline to make moves, so they are likely to go into the season with that approach. The Predators will probably make minor moves to give themselves room to be buyers during the season, which would put them in a position to not get burned if they give Novak the chance at second line center and he does not do well.