The opening night starting lineup for the Nashville Predators already looks drastically different to what it looks like ahead of their Thursday night matchup with the Seattle Kraken on Trade Deadline Eve.
Just one year removed from Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly leading a top line with Gustav Nyquist, it appears two of those three players will be gone the following season. At least the buzz is growing around that possibility.
Nyquist has already been traded to the Minnesota Wild for a 2026 second-round pick, and now O'Reilly is getting interest from one Stanley Cup contender in particular, the New Jersey Devils (Per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff).
As #njdevils sort through their options on center market, I’m told they’ve expressed interest in #preds Ryan O’Reilly, who has two years left on his deal.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 6, 2025
ROR makes sense for NJ as, if they're to move their '26 1st, would prefer a top-six C - ideally with term. They are one of several teams kicking tires on ROR, but #Smashville is in no rush to move him after trading Thomas Novak.@DailyFaceoff https://t.co/vObDxkctjl
— Anthony Di Marco (@ADiMarco25) March 6, 2025
O'Reilly is the best trade piece Nashville Predators have, and some teams might overpay
This would have to take a significant overpay from anyone who wants to pry the former Conn Smythe winner from the Predators. Trotz isn't looking to burn it all completely to the ground just yet, and dealing O'Reilly would signal he's ready for a full rebuild.
What also complicates this matter and makes it harder to deal O'Reilly is they've already parted ways with Tommy Novak, another young center who just didn't live up to 2nd line center role with Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos early in the season.
The Predators are already bare bones at center, and dealing O'Reilly would certainly bury this team further unless you really get a large haul. Something like an obvious first round pick and a really good, dynamic prospect to give Nashville's farm system another weapon.
Also if Trotz is trying to remain playoff competitive for 2025-26 with him being stuck with many of these same core veterans for next season, then dealing O'Reilly will hurt that badly. It's really all about what is Trotz's current plan for 2025-26?
You only trade O'Reilly if he signs off on the trade
O'Reilly has gotten the no-trade protection treatment even though it's not in his contract. He has expressed his loyalthy to Nashville and that he wants to stay here. But every player has a limit, and every general manager might have a price they can't walk away from.
Another piece of this puzzle is O'Reilly is signed for two more years after this. He's not a rental. He can be his new team's missing piece to their Stanley Cup puzzle for not just this year, but the next couple of years.
If the Devils are willing to overpay for O'Reilly, I say you take it if you're Trotz. Sure, it will be painful in the immediate future and probably even damage your hopes of being relevant next year. But O'Reilly or no O'Reilly, the Predators aren't sniffing a Stanley Cup anytime soon with this current roster makeup.
The Devils are in desperation mode after their superstar Jack Hughes had to get shoulder surgery which has ended his season. The Devils are in the midst of a playoff race, but not far off the playoff bubble just four points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for third place in the Atlantic Division.
So getting a player like O'Reilly to give them a boost and leadership after losing Hughes makes sense for them. The Predators should take advantage of that desperation and see just how much the Devils are willing to offer.
Of course the Predators front office needs to do right by O'Reilly. A blindside trade of O'Reilly will not be a good look on Trotz, a well-respected player in this league who showed his loyalty to your franchise through the ugliest of times this year.
Laying it all out there, there's a lot to sort out and not a lot of time to come to an agreement I'd call it 50/50 at this point that O'Reilly gets traded. Way higher than I would've said just a week ago, but I've also been preaching the idea of shopping O'Reilly since mid-December.
Obviously the miracle run never happened for the Predators. Nothing even close to the miraculous 18-game point streak last season. If O'Reilly is content going to New Jersey and it's an overpay, you make this deal for Nashville.