It almost seems like yesterday we welcomed former Conn Smythe winning centerman Ryan O'Reilly to Nashville. At $4.5M AAV, fans saw the signing as an absolute steal. It marked a shift in the organization, making them more competitive on paper. At 32, O'Reilly still had a few years of high skilled hockey left in the tank. In his first year, he demonstrated his skill by registering 69 points in 82 games and pushing the Preds to game 6 in the postseason after missing it the season prior.
Just one season later, the Predators finished 3rd last in league standings, talk about a loss of prior confidence. O'Reilly (now on the 2nd line) saw a decrease in his point production, only tallying 53 points in 79 games. A growing youth presence at center has put some pressure on the 34-year-old. Rumors have circulated in the past with an O'Reilly trade, but nothing has come through. Despite wanting to stay competitive, Preds General Manager Barry Trotz knows that he has to rely a lot more on his youth to finish plays.
Nashville has a good amount of quality centers who are in need of playing time, including recently drafted Brady Martin. The bottom 6 is a more likely landing spot for the centers but realistically, they'll need top minutes to develop properly. It'll be hard to move on from Steven Stamkos with his pricey, NMC deal—so that's out of the equation. In the case O'Reilly, he holds an inexpensive, move-free deal that multiple teams are willing to work with. We're evaluating keeping O'Reilly throughout the season instead of trading him before it starts. Let's begin with some of the pros.