The Nashville Predators will undergo a drastic change in the front office, and there's a good chance the new hire will kick tires early.
Smashville missed the playoffs for the second-straight season, and that itself might force management to shift the roster greatly. As its veterans continue aging, Nashville will need to decide who to move on from to allow the youth to come in and take over. With a new General Manager, a different mindset behind the wheel is exactly what the team needs, but that will come at a cost.
Here's the two most likely candidates the new hire will wave goodbye to in the offseason.
Justin Barron
There's a reason why not too many Preds fans are fond of Justin Barron. For starters, he was off to a rough introduction after being the replacement for fan-favorite defenseman Alexandre Carrier in a one-for-one swap. Much like the P.K. Subban-Shea Weber trade, fans were quick to count down on the new arrival. Outside of new kid syndrome, there's a couple stats that pushed fans away.
Per MoneyPuck, Barron was fourth in team defensive zone giveaways with 38. To put that into perspective, that is one defensive giveaway per period of hockey. Compare that to his fellow blueliners (Skjei at 23 minutes, Josi at 42 and Wilsby at 27), that's quite high. He's giving up the puck way too frequently in the defensive zone, which in turn prompts oppositional scoring chances.
Offensively, Barron didn't look much better. At just four takeaways this season, he was last among starters and 11 away from the next defenseman. Ryan Ufko, who played 18 games compared to Barron's 52 finished the season with three takeaways as a rookie. It's these comparisons that are proving that the Barron experiment hasn't worked and change is desperately needed.
He'll enter the offseason as a restricted free agent, and if Nashville qualifies him, they could trade him for something of value after the draft.
Erik Haula
Erik Haula's situation is interesting. He's on an expiring unrestricted deal, which means the Predators will retain little to no value out of him if they decide to trade him at the draft. The 35-year-old was brought in as center reinforcement for the new season. In the 81 games he played, he scored 14 goals and 38 points, the fourth-highest point total in his career.
While many projected Haula to be a key trade asset at the trade deadline, Nashville held onto him. Now in May, there's a chance it'll pursue extension talks with the Olympic winner; however I believe it's unlikely. With Brady Martin, Fedor Svechkov and Matthew Wood expected to take the reins on center, Haula's role will diminish fast.
He did nothing bad for the Preds, but he isn't needed anymore. The prospects have developed enough to be trusted in top-end roles, pushing Haula out. Playing wing isn't viable since the Preds found success in a handful of young wingers as the season came to a close.
If the team does want to get some value out of him, they might attempt a sign-and-trade, but that's unlikely due to his age and the fact his value is so low. The trade value Haula once had is gone. The most likely move is letting him walk. We didn't acquire him for much, a low-end prospect and a 4th-round pick, so we aren't losing much out of his departure.
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