Who is more valuable to the Nashville Predators, Juuso Parssinen or Phil Tomasino?

There is a dilemma facing the Nashville Predators and two of their most important young players in the organization; both Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino remain unsigned with the 2024-25 regular season about two months away.

You can make strong arguments for both on which player is more valuable to the future of the Nashville Predators, but pretty much all of us can agree they both hold their value for different reasons.

Parssinen and Tomasino are restricted free agents after they completed their entry-level contracts. Tomasino is a 2019 first round pick while Parssinen is a 7th-round pick from 2019.

Is it a choice between Tomasino or Parssinen for the Nashville Predators?

Tomasino has received a qualifying offer from the Predators but has yet to agree to the terms. It hasn't been exactly what you would call a smooth ride for Tomasino, despite being one of the more productive players from his 2019 draft class outside of the top-20 picks.

You can't really bash the Predators for selecting Tomasino at the time with the 24th-overall pick. Only three players selected after Tomasino have tallied more points in their NHL careers. And when Tomasino gets playing time, he hasn't been a scrub by any means. But for reasons we don't entirely know, he has kind of clashed with fitting into what the Predators are trying to do.

As for Parssinen, he has played in 59 fewer NHL games than Tomasino, and has the future hopes of being a fulltime center. Tomasino on the other hand is exclusively considered a winger, even though he was originally listed as a center. That lowers his ceiling, while Parssinen can adapt and play both positions.

What has put the Predators in this situation to begin with is their salary cap problem. After spending so big in free agency, they have under $600,000 in available cap space to sign Parssinen and Tomasino to standard contracts. Obviously that's not going to work, and something has to give in the next two months.

You've seen Cody Glass' name brought up as a potential trade candidate and even purely a salary cap dump to make room for Parssinen and Tomasino. Glass has a cap hit of $2.5 million and isn't even projected to be a starter when the regular seasons open up on October 10 against the Dallas Stars.

If the Predators really want to open up some cap space to make it easy to re-sign both Parssinen and Tomasino, then trading Glass and Dante Fabbro is your best bet. Fabbro carries a $2.5 million cap hit as well, and appears to be on the outside looking in as a 7th defensenen after the Predators added Brady Skjei in free agency and brought back Alexandre Carrier.

But what if Glass and Fabbro don't get moved? Then that means there's not enough space to sign even one of Tomasino or Parssinen. But even so, which of these two are more valuable to the Predators' long-term future?

While I believe Tomasino has more raw talent and breakout potential if put on the right line and gets a system that invests into his strengths, I'm more apt to think that Parssinen is the better long-term match for Nashville.

Parssinen has some dog in him. He has put up 138 hits in 89 NHL games. He's a big frame at 6'3" and can continue to develop his physical game to match how the Predators want to play. He's much better suited to eventually become a reliable bottom-six center, and who knows maybe even grow into a top-six player a few years down the road.

As for Tomasino, I can see a scenario where he goes to a new team and flourishes as well. Similar to what happened with Eeli Tolvanen when he went to the Seattle Kraken. Sometimes all a player needs is a change of scenery and a smash of the reset button.

Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean shared in a recent story that Head Coach Andrew Brunette has been critical of Tomasino's work ethic and commitment to playing to the Predators' identity. Here's a quote from his story published just a week ago:

""I think (Tomasino) needs to grab a little bit of the identity that we've created here," Brunette said. "If he can, and if he puts the work in, and he's relentless, then his skill will take over.""

- Alex Daugerty, The Tennessean

That quote from Brunette was back in May, and of course opinions can change by the head coach. However, not much has happened for Tomasino to prove himself from then up until now to change that candid critique by Brunette.

Parssinen also hit a speed bump last season when being sent back to the Milwaukee Admirals mid-season. It came as kind of a surprise at the time, but Parssinen made the most of it in the AHL. He played his last game of the 2023-24 regular season on January 20, but returned for his first career NHL playoff game while logging 15 minutes of ice time.

If you have to choose, Parssinen is a better fit for Nashville than Tomasino

When you look at the projected forward lines for the Predators, Parssinen is expected to be in the starting lineup while Tomasino might have some work to do to push himself into the mix. If both end up taking new deals with Nashville, it will probably come down to a choice of either Parssinen or Tomasino as a starter.

I don't see Tomasino overtaking any of the other projected starting wingers unless an injury happens or some crazy trade occurs. Luke Evangelista is cemented in the starting lineup, at least I'm assuming so. Then you have the top-six most definitely locked in with Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Gustav Nyquist and Steven Stamkos. That's just the four wingers, with Tommy Novak assumed to get a shot at center.

On the left side, Mark Jankowski and Cole Smith are the epitomes of that relentless style that Brunette loves, so I can't see him dramatically flipping to Tomasino and benching one of those guys.

However, Parssinen has a pathway forward to start off at wing but eventually be moved to an opportunity at center, which should be the more preferred position for him. To start the 2024-25 season at least, he looks like a much better fit on the fourth line with Michael McCarron and Cole Smith.

As time drags on, it becomes more likely that both Glass and Tomasino end up not being on this team and Parssinen gets the new deal. Unless Tomasino accepts the qualifying offer or if some type of trade happens to clear up considerable cap space.