In the modern NHL, contract buyouts are commonplace, and sometimes trades need a team to retain some salary to make a deal work. Everyone does it, but when your team is cutting checks to guys that aren't suiting up for them, it still stings.
The Nashville Predators are no exception, and in the 2024-2025 season, they paid off five contracts for players who were no longer on the team. Let's break them down and see who is still being paid by the team to not be here.
Matt Duchene
Hey Alexa, play "What Hurts The Most" by Rascal Flatts. Originally signed to a seven-year, $56-million contract, Duchene had a rocky few years with the Predators. His Covid-altered 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were a touch below average.
It was a very pleasant surprise when Duchene found his game and exploded for 86 points in the 2021-2022 season. He set the franchise high water mark for goals that year with 43, which is 2nd only to Filip Forsberg's 48 in 2023-24. His season points total is still the 3rd highest point total in franchise history. After returning to normalcy in 2022-23, Barry Trotz bought him out since he was unable to find a trade partner, and his no-movement clause was about to kick in.
Duchene's Predators totals in the end were four seasons, 249 games, 84 goals, 113 assists, 197 points, -6, and 100 penalty minutes even.
Duchene landed with the Dallas Stars, tuning up two seasons worth 65 and then 82 points. Duchene continues to be a productive center, which really hurts watching, considering that's exactly what the Predators seem to be lacking.
It is even worse when you realize that the Predators are paying Duchene $5,555,556 not to be here. To put some salt in it, that price goes up next season to $6,555,556.
Kyle Turris
Turris suffered in all of his NHL stops from a disease known as being drafted way too high. He ripped up the BCHL and was the top-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting in the 2007 draft class. Turris went 3rd overall to the Arizona Coyotes, and shockingly wasn't the franchise's savior.
Turris peaked with a 64-point season during a run with the Ottawa Senators, but flamed out there and ended up on the Predators as part of a three-team trade, which ironically sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa. Turris had a strong start and signed a big extension with Nashville. It didn't yield increasing returns, as Turris seemed stuck in the 25-30 point range with the team. He also didn't really hit or block shots, and was below 50% in the faceoff circle.
All in all, Turris played parts of three seasons, 182 games, 29 goals, 67 assists, 96 points, +7, and 79 penalty minutes.
Turris played just 50 more games after the Predators bought out his contract, and is out of the league. He's now involved with the Coquitalm Express, but still getting a check from the Predators. For the 2024-2025 season, he made $2 million from the Predators, and he's going to end up making $2 million again next season, too.
Ryan Johansen
Originally drafted by the Blue Jackets with the 4th overall pick in the 2010 draft, Johansen looked like a player who just needed the right situation to blossom.
He held out with Columbus and eventually ended up with a trade to the Predators, with Seth Jones coming back in the deal. Johansen performed well for 8 years in Nashville and was a core member of the Stanley Cup Finals team, as well as the Presidents Cup team. After the finals, he was rewarded with an eight-year, $64 million contract worth $8 million annually. It seemed like Johansen was going to become an elite player.
Johansen, though, still looked like he wasn't peaking, and that it wasn't going to happen with the Predators. He stalled out, couldn't push past the 65-point plateau. When the franchise started entering a transition phase after the 2022-23 season, Johansen was traded to Colorado, and the Predators retained half his salary to make it happen.
Johansen couldn't get restarted in Colorado, got traded to Philly for peanuts, and might be out of the league. Despite not playing this season, Johansen should've cost the Predators $4 million. However since the Flyers successfully terminated his contract, Nashville saved money on the deal.
Mattias Ekholm
Ekholm was a solid competitor at both ends of the ice and spent 12 years with the Predators. He seemed like a player destined to become a career Predator. He wasn't.
Right around the trade deadline of the 2022-23 season, aka the season of upheaval, Ekholm and a2023 sixth-round pick was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2023 first-round draft pick, a 2024 fourth-round pick, defenceman Tyson Barrie and forward prospect Reid Schafer.
Ekholm is still a solid contributor and is pushing the Oilers on another deep Stanley Cup run. Thankfully for the Predators, he's only costing them $250,000. That's a figure you can live with, even though Barrie isn't with the team anymore and Schafer might never make it to the NHL. That figure will exist through the 2025-2026 season.