The Nashville Predators finally have new management in the form of new General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Chris McFarland and newly minted Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Rob Blake, and they have some contract issues that are going to need their attention sooner rather than later.
This offseason is technically pretty light in terms of expiring contracts for the Predators. They only have 3 expiring UFA contracts in Erik Haula, Tyson Jost, and Kevin Gravel, and one RFA contract in Justin Barron. Four contracts can be an afternoon or two for a new front office team with this experience, and frankly, none of the four players are bank-breaking or team-making.
What will need the new managment team's full attention is prepping for the 2027 offseason, and maybe making some moves ahead of time to make sure that the team can continue on an upward trajectory.
Predators need to look out for 2027
In the 2027 offseason, the Nashville Predators will have 11 expiring contracts. They'll have 8 RFA contracts and 3 UFA contracts to deal with. The more they handle now and the more proactive they are, the easier it will be.
The biggest standouts are Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Evangelista. O'Reilly is a UFA and had been adamant about wanting to stay in Nashville, at least through the end of his contract. An extension or a new deal done ahead of time will take a lot of the drama out of the trade deadline.
Evangelista could be part of the team's bright future. Ideally, he'll get along a bit more with this management group, and his performance last season and this season will secure him the long-term deal he's looking for. On the other hand, he's a good player who could be under a team's control going into next season as an RFA. With the Predators' glut of talented wingers on the rise, could the potential haul from dealing Evangelista be too much to turn down?
Among the other RFA's, Ryan Ufko had a great start to his career, and has one year to try and secure a long and large contract. Matthew Wood has a year's advantage on Ufko but finds himself in a similar scenario, and so does Reid Schaefer.
A player like Joakim Kemell needs to make an impression fast because he hasn't had much of an NHL career at all. Vitali Pinchuk was dynamic for the Minsk Dynamo, but he'll be an RFA by season's end, and his North American future will be dictated by this season.
Ozzy Wiesblatt and Nick Perbix are both pending UFA's, and both need to show something if they want to stay with the team. Wiesblatt's performance packed a little more jam last year than Perbix's, and in his bottom-six role, he might be easier to make a fixture. Perbix will have a lot more prospects to fend off.
One of them is Adam Wilsby, who raised some eyebrows with his 16 points in 58 games last season. The 6'1" Swedish defender could find himself a hockey home with a good follow up, or getting ready to find his next one if he dissapoints.
Now, all of this chaos can be cooled by moving some of these players around. A team-controlled asset, especially an RFA, has great value in this rising cap world. Anticipate one or more of these players being moved around the NHL draft this season.
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