Nashville Predators Trade Egor Afanasyev to San Jose Sharks

Nashville Predators Trade Egor Afanasyev to San Jose Sharks

eigor no more the Nashville Predators have traded fan favorite eigor afanasev we’re going to talk about that decision and tell you why Predators fans may see more moves like this in the near future your locked on Predators your daily podcast on the Nashville Predators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the lock on Predators podcast and thank you for making us your first listen of the day we are your free daily Nashville Predators podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day want to kick off our Monday episode with a Hello to our locked on prhe heads those are our every dayers who tune in each and every weekday to talk Nashville Predators hockey with us we thank you for your support and we love that we get to spend a little bit of your day with you I’m an Kimmel I am a writer at Penalty Box radio and my friends I have a partner in crime you do I’m Emma lingan and I am the Predators site editor and reporter for the hockey news the Nashville Predators made a big decision when it comes to the prospect pipeline yesterday trading fan favorite forward eigor afanasev to the San Jose Sharks on today’s show we’re going to talk about why Nashville made the move and we’re going to tell you a little bit more about the player the Predators got in return who isn’t totally unfamiliar failure to the organization also another announcement this weekend as well as the Nashville Predators hire a new assistant coach we’re going to talk about that on today’s episode to but before we dive into all of that want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by fanuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sportsing like we all want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for every one every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started all right Emma big news breaking yesterday eigor afanasev has been traded to the San Jose Sharks in return the Nashville Predators are going to quote keep uh aie WIS blat who came here from San Jose in a loan this season he played down in Milwaukee a little bit before we dive into like all the nitty-gritty of this move I just want to know like overall how surprised are you by this move I’m not that surprised to be honest I think we’ve talked about on the show before how Philip thomasino was a guy who could benefit from a change of scenery trade I would also put Igor aasv in that category I think that he’s a guy that it it just seemed like especially the the writing has kind of been on the wall ever since he was called up for that brief stint you know he was leading the AHL and scoring this year gets called up to Nashville only plays two games and then get sent back down to me that was when again the writing was kind of on the wall it looked like the organization had maybe moved on from him in terms of what they believe he could be um I think that initially the the thought was oh this is our future at you know we want this guy to be a top six forward uh I think that you know he has clearly reached an elite level in the AHL but we just weren’t seeing that translate at the NHL level and so it almost just seemed like he had capped out in his potential with the Predators organization and not saying his potential at all but it’s just with everything else in the organization his path to the Predators NHL roster much less the top six just seemed very unclear now he goes to a place like San Jose granted he’s an RFA now so that it’s really just his signing rights that have been traded and then San Jose has until July 1 to make a qualifying offer but I think that you know in an organization like San Jose eigor has a much clearer pathway uh to to crack the NHL roster have maybe that bigger role that he intended or you know that is desired of him than he would in Nashville so you know I I hate to say it but I you kind of saw that coming especially after the the very brief call up he had earlier this year yeah and eigor he was the second round draft pick in 2019 so you know you want to see a pick in the second round of course you always want to see that come to fruition but agree with you Igor’s uh path between the AHL NHL it’s just been such a slow burn and I feel like everybody has waited to say okay now he’s ready now he’s ready and when you saw his performance in the AHL this season it really seemed like here we are now we’re on the cusp of what we’ve waited for with eigor and in that little time period before he was called up in February to Nashville this year he was a part of that win streak that uh the Milwaukee Admirals were on he played 14 games in that stretch he had 20 points eight goals in those 14 games so it really seemed like here it is here’s eigor like we finally gotten there but again like you said called him up brought him in bless his heart one of those two games was the nine to2 Dallas game crowns in heaven eigor for just sustaining to get through that but while he was up here there were times where he during his call up he was a healthy scratch he didn’t play and when that happened you almost see Nashville saying yeah this was sort of a last chance when we saw him excelling in the AHL and brought him up and it just didn’t work and you know when he was here even last season at the end of the season he played you know 17 games and definitely played through that stretch where everybody and their brother was out and injured man did he have to struggle to find the back of the net you know and so it just wasn’t the trajectory that I think everybody wanted for eigor and here’s what’s real this guy is a fan favorite and he’s a fan favorite I think for a reason just personally super engaging super charismatic um lovely truly a lovely lovely person and somebody that I think everybody in Nashville felt like okay this guy this guy’s going to be the future I agree with you change of scenery this is somebody who is going to benefit from going to San Jose as much as you know we may hate to see him go personally this may be the very best thing for him he may take steps forward in a different system but it really felt like the Slow Burn like the candle had sort of flickered out in February yeah and and one thing that I also you know related to that I want to point out is just I I mean I can’t predict the future I don’t know what’s going to happen with eigor in his career trajectory but I just because I I’ve been in this market long enough and know Predators fans well enough that I I can just see this potentially happening if eigor goes to San Jose he goes to San Jose and takes off and just like skyrockets he’s you know scoring left and right and he’s you know the exactly the player that every you know that we were all expecting or hoping he would be with Nashville I beg you please go back like rewind like two minutes to how we started this conversation which is that in the system in Nashville he was not going to get there and so that’s the whole thing is that people saying oh we gave up on him too fast or you know see I’m I’m already getting mad at people for an argument that they haven’t even made but I’m like but you know but you’re right you know that’s the argument that’s coming you know it’s coming success you know I mean I I still it’s like shad tolven and right I think it’s just they’re going to you know if eigor goes and has the season of his life with San Jose and all of a sudden he’s finding the back of the net and he’s you know just excelling everyone’s going to say oh Nashville gave up on him too quickly or you know it was horrible decisionmaking or whatever it’s again it you can’t look at that stuff in a vacuum you can’t look at him or his career in a vacuum it’s like the system in San Jose gives him a clearer Pathway to the NHL and in Nashville that just wasn’t going to happen and that’s okay that doesn’t mean that he’s a bad player or Nashville gave up on him or it’s just it doesn’t fit and that’s okay like you gota I mean it’s better to learn that now and cut your losses before you are now like very financially indebted to this kid and so I mean I I agree with you one of my favorites like truly a joy to be around I I love him and I truly truly want nothing but the best for him and with that said I do believe that the best for him was not going to be in Nashville yeah I agree with you it really felt like they had reached a point where it it was sort of going to be called and and not in a way that’s favorable to him and I think where San Jose is opens a lot more doors for eigor than where Nashville is as well so I agree with that Nashville in return um they are getting Aussie wisat uh he was loaned to Nashville from the San Jose Barracuda so if you have watched Milwaukee Admirals games towards the end of the season this is a name you’re going to be familiar with first round draft pick in 2020 uh 31st overall um not necessarily your your offensive explosive explosive player um but this is somebody who may gain a little bit more being in the Nashville Milwaukee pipeline than he would in San Jose like you’re talking about this may be a fit now do I think Aussie weisblat is GNA be a top six guy in Nashville probably not but I do think this is somebody that Nashville feels like maybe they can get a little more out of and that is part of why they made this deal yeah I think again it’s another change of scenery I mean he clearly you said he was on loan from Barracuda in Milwaukee he clearly made an impression you know a good impression um and and you know fit well in the system there he was meshing well with the system and with the other prospects I mean he had what he had six points in 16 games with Milwaukee during the regular season and then nine points in 15 playoff games so like you know not exactly like you said not a goalscoring Powerhouse but that’s okay I mean he if you look at him compared to afanasev he is he’s faster he he is a faster skater he’s very physical like and he’s not afraid to take a hit either and that I and like use his body and I think that that is important and you know if you just watch him play he’s one of those guys that like he again this goes into him being f F but like he will not hesitate to take a hit he won’t hesitate to get his butt back to the other end of the ice to play on defense and I think again if we’re just talking about systems and and styles and what meshes well I think he was not like you said just like eigor didn’t have the clear path in Nashville Aussie didn’t have the clear path in San Jose so just a little switch and you know hope that it works out for the best for both of them Plus you know I think the Predators just see wise blat as the better Prospect at this juncture for the organization because he is so he was drafted the year after eigor was um and then he was going to he’s G to be in RFA next off season so they still they get one more year of him and then again like if it you know they’ll have one more year of him in Milwaukee will he will we see Nashville this year probably not but that you know you get another year to develop him in this system and then if you don’t like it at the end of the year you really you just cut your losses and you move on from him too and you haven’t really lost that much or invested that much and I think that’s another thing that to me this indicates you know if you’re trading a guy like afanasev for someone who I think we can all recognize we probably not make the NHL roster this year barring something like what happened in 20 22 23 when everybody gets hurt um I think that indicates to me that the Predators are probably going to be pretty active on the trade Andor free agent Market this offseason when it comes to making moves for NHL players like established NHL players so that like that kind of pequs my interest now because it’s like all right we just traded away a guy who could have potentially made the roster next year for someone who probably won’t and so now that means like okay what else are we doing here what else is happening so I still there’s a lot more to come um but we just don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like yet yeah I love that coming up I’m actually going to piggyback off of what Emma is just talking about and tell you why I think we may see more moves like this eigor afanasev move coming up for the Predators also Emma and I did a little digging on Aussie wisl and we just found something so interesting we have to share it with you so we’re going to talk about that all coming up in just a moment first want to let you know today’s episode brought to you by FanDuel look we love sports we love them so much we never want them to stop but as the playoffs are winding down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sportsing like we want them to but FanDuel lets us keep the sports going whenever we want all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there is something for everyone new customers old customers everyone in between every day all summer long so head over to f f.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball all right Emma talking about this move kind of uh eore off the roster you mentioned you know okay this may indicate that Nashville may be a little bit more active when it comes to fleshing out an NH roster and I think this eagor move is something that Nashville Predators fans kind of have to buckle up for perhaps a little bit more of because I think Nashville is at a point in this reset where they really are doing hard evaluations on prospects and where they’re at and what potential they have and how they’re going to fit in the next two to three seasons and I think we can all agree you know it just didn’t look like there was a good path forward for eigor here but but I think we could see this with other players and I’m talking about players like and I hate to say it Phil thomasino so a move like this while you hate it you know fans love him you hate to see him move I think this is a trend that’s going to maybe continue in the near future for Nashville because they absolutely have to sort through what they have in the pipeline and what is realistically who are realistically going to be NHL pieces they can use in the next two to three seasons yeah and I think it like you said they’re kind of going through you don’t want to say cleaning house because that makes it sound like they’re getting like taking out the trash it’s nothing like that it’s just like okay what fits here and what doesn’t and it doesn’t you know I I think it’s just especially as you get closer to the draft and you’re going to be building up that pipeline again you need to look at like okay what are a real needs here you know are we are we going to remain committed to these players that we’ve drafted raed earlier just because you know it’s like well we’re stuck with them or you know something like that pound you know right and it’s like you know we had this vision for aasv to kind of develop into this top six forward for Nashville well okay let’s have a reality check here it’s looking like that’s not happening so let’s cut our losses now before we have invested too much and then we are stuck with him you know if by stuck I mean you sign him to a big expensive cont contract that’s impossible to move you know I I think it’s it it is going to be hard I know because like fan favorites thomasino is another guy who’s a fan favorite and all for good reason um I think the one thing I if you know I’m not even sure how much this will move the needle but the one thing that thomasino has going for him that afanasev did not is that thomasino has shown success at the NHL level true aasf has not so I think that you know how patient do they want to be with him because he’s going to be in RFA too so it’s like now you kind of it’s just kind of a critical juncture for these guys because they’re they rfas they’re not going to be waivers exempt next year um so sometimes you do have to to look around and make tough decisions and I think that ultimately you know I’m not going to I’m not going to you know trade thomasino before he’s even gone but I’m just saying that even even with with eigor I think it’s going to be um I I think it’s for the best just for him and the organization and I think there were two sides to this story as well because there were Rumblings that eigor was thinking about maybe going back to Russia if he did not feel like Nashville was going to be a place where he was going to get the opportunity that he feels like he wanted and if he wasn’t going to be able to get a contract that he felt like was what he was worth and so I think for both parties maybe you may find as hard as it is this could be you know the right path for everybody involved we’ll see how it unfolds now we do have to talk about something that may not be as on Ice related but my goodness Emma and I ended up down a rabbit hole and we just can’t not share this with you little bit of hockey trivia so we were you know talking about aie wisat who the Predators you know have gotten in their you know was part of this eigor aasf move and I very innocently said I wonder what Azie is short for and friends the wheels came off the bus because Emma and I did a deep dive and we have learned so much about the wise blad Clan so Emma have so what started as a search for what is Azie short for and I can’t say this definitively but I think we’ve landed on it’s not short for anything I think that’s just his name um it started as a quest for that information ended up my mind was blown I think an was concerned I think you were concerned for me is she okay I don’t know what’s happening is she okay I was speechless in looking for Aussie’s name which turns out is in fact aie I discovered that aie um is actually the most convention of the names in his family the wi wiat boys yes he has three brothers they all play hockey y um so he is I think we determine he is the second youngest um yes yes 25 24 2220 we are so we have learned so much y’all we know so much about the wise Flats now but okay but you’ll understand why in just a moment because we know Azie yeah the names of his brothers at 20 at 25 years old we have ocean 24 years old we have Orca and then aie at 22 20 years old we have Oasis spelled come on OAS i z let’s go now you see why I was speeching for such a long time I think yeah I just I’m like I’m sorry we have to share this how is no one talking about this like this is like the most interesting mix of names in a family like that I’ve ever seen like like I I have so many questions now I cannot wait I cannot wait for Azie to get here for training camp and I need to be like bro we need to have a conversation like and I we have speculated on what is the middle name that goes with Orca yeah and is it like you said is it Orca John like like what are what is this like so we just felt like I understand that that’s not statistical analysis I understand that the names of his brothers May mean nothing when it comes to the future of aie but you need to know that Aussie is the regular name yes in his and and that apparently it’s not short for anything cuz I I was expecting we were going to find out his name it was short for like Oswald or something and then we could have a good laugh at that but I was like oh no Aussie’s actually very normal compared to the rest of his family yep yeah we opened Pandora’s box and the wisat family was in it y’all so there you go and and again they all play hockey so they do keep your eye out for ocean Orca Azie and Oasis with the just rolls off the tongue doesn’t it it does it does gosh now there was also real quick we do have to talk about the fact that there was another change announced this weekend in Nashville we’re going to talk about the new assistant coach hired by Barry trotz today’s episode is brought to you by our great friends at eBay Motors passion Dr drive and patience that’s the formula for winning championships it’s also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers all right Emma do need to talk about one other announcement that came this weekend the Nashville Predators have hired assistant coach Darby Hendrickson he is joining a bench that he is very familiar with this is not a new face to Andrew brunette um and I think it’s going to be an interesting Edition was formerly with the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach spent 14 years 14 years y’all that is an eternity when it comes to NHL coaching um with the Minnesota Wild was uh let go at the end of the season uh and is joining Andrew brunette now behind the bench as the assistant coach what do you think about this higher Emma I mean I think it makes total sense you know as soon as we learned that Dan high note was not going to be returned that the Predators were renew his contract which officially ends June 30th I think you know it that we all kind of assumed it was going to be Andrew brunette bringing in another one of his own guys similar to what he did with with Derek McKenzie last year um as is his prerogative you know I think it makes sense you want to have have a staff of your guys and guys that um you’ve worked with before that you’re familiar with I think it you know they didn’t only coach together in Minnesota they were both assistants in Minnesota but they also played together in Minnesota um during their playing years so they they go back a ways and you add in the fact that he has also worked with um Predators assistant coach Todd Richards um and so there’s there’s a lot of a lot of connections there you know I think that it makes total sense know exactly what his responsibilities are going to be on you know in the role as we mentioned before Dan high note responsible for the penalty kill we don’t know if that’s going to be a one for one swap uh with Hendrickson or if the penalty kill will maybe go to someone else and they’ll start shifting responsibilities that way don’t know yet I went back and listened to an episode of Locked on wild Seth toppel is the host there when the Minnesota Wild announced that they had let um let him go at let Hendrickson go and it was really interesting because he said look this this is a guy who they have loved for 14 years he has been an assistant coach under every coach but the first coach of the wild who he played for so he has survived a number of the chopping blocks and you know Seth said look this is somebody who didn’t lose this job because of anything he did it was just probably a case of again John Hines want to bring in his own guy and the wild kind of felt like maybe they had to do something and so the guy that’s been here for 14 years is going to be the guy that that they do something with so it’s going to be interesting to see where he fits in what Andrew brunette kind of assigns him to do I believe Seth said that he did a lot defensively with the wild so you know let’s see what his role is going to be here with the nationville preditors it’s going to be great to kind of get to know him and see how he fits in do want to wrap up this episode though Emma tonight game seven it what has to be the most bat poop crazy stanle Cup Final I’ve ever encountered in my life how are you feeling ahead of G game seven and do you want to make a prediction no I don’t frankly because I have already I have already eaten Crow already because I said you know once Florida you know Florida goes up three nothing in the series and I’m over here like GH this is so boring this is annoying like the Conference finals are always better than the Cup Final like there better you know the Cup Final is never been a good series and never goes the distance and I’m like and this is just another example Edmonton didn’t come to play like they’re getting exposed all this stuff well friends it is now 3 to three and we are going to game seven and no I would not like to make a prediction because I truly have no idea like no idea and and that that’s rare for me like I I mean not saying that I I’m always right in my predictions because I’m certainly not but I usually at least have a feeling one way or the other I couldn’t tell you like anything could happen tonight and I I I won’t be surprised yeah this is gonna be wild to me because I am a uh a heart hockey person more than a head hockey person and there is just I’m not sure there’s any good way for this to feel okay because to see the Florida Panthers lose in seven after being up three nothing and the way that they just absolutely went through the postseason like a hot knife through butter only to lose would just be mindblowing to me mindblowing the flip side is I so want Edmonton to win for Matias eolm and for my friend Paige Martin but if they don’t win how heartbreaking to have drug your way clawed your way back into potentially winning it and not what like there is there’s just no way to feel all I’m going to do is sit and watch tonight and and hopefully not feel anything and just take it all in because this is insanity this is insanity it is and I like again I’m with you I was rooting no matter who was in the the final I was rooting for the Western Conference Team you know it turned out to be Edmonton and Matias eolm you know part of me now almost doesn’t want them to win only because if they win then it’ll be in Florida and it won’t be as special if they win it on their home especially because Canada hasn’t won a cup in so long like that it’s but at the same time I’m sure they like in the grand scheme of things they don’t care like if if it happens in Florida they just want the cup and like that’s fair this is again me thinking with my heart I’m like oh how nice it would be to have it happen at home but like I yeah I don’t know I also I will say I don’t really have feelings one way or the other like I am I just I’m hoping for a good game I hope it’s not a blowout like I hope that it’s it’s exciting it’s gonna go here’s what here’s what I’m afraid slh hope happens it’s going to go to like double overtime that would be how this series would that would be how the series would end I don’t know I’ll tell you what Florida looked like somebody had kicked puppy after game six and I’m like you all have some mental work to do not that I’m saying they can’t do it but that’s going to be impressive for them because they I mean they just looked absolutely shell shocked and I’m like you all came out in a game six where you could have walked away with the Stanley Cup and you just weren’t there so walked away in game four or game five and you didn’t and you didn’t what are you doing so can you do it in game seven or can Edmonton just pull off magic I don’t know but you can bet I will be watching and emotionally eating as it goes on oh yeah so we’re gonna see what happens tonight in game seven of course Emma and I will be back tomorrow and you know we’re going to want to talk about what happens in game seven as well also coming up this week we are going to announce a new locked on Predators Insider program that’s going to be available to our locked on PR heads so stay tuned for all of that information this week and we’ve got the draft coming up Friday and Saturday so we’re going to be talking about that this week as well tons of great information coming at you this week from lockon predators before we sign off though Emma let everyone know where they can find you and find your work you can find me on social media at Emma lingan where you will definitely want to stay tuned because I will be at the draft in Vegas and posting a lot of content on there but you can also find all of my written work at the hockey news and you can find me on social media at ankor Mama on Ice I won’t be at the draft but I’ll be emotionally eating from my couch not as interesting content as what Emma will bring you but there will be you can find my work also at penalty boox radio.com that’s going to do it for today’s Monday episode of Locked on Predators thanks for making us your first listen of the today we’ll be back tomorrow to talk about whatever happens in game seven we’ll see you then

The Nashville Predators announced that they have traded forward prospect Egor Afanasyev to the San Jose Sharks for 2020 first-rounder Ozzy Wiesblatt. On today’s Locked On Predators, Ann and Emma break down the trade, how both prospects could benefit from a change of scenery, what it means for Nashville’s offseason strategy and more. We also discuss the Predators’ hire of assistant coach Darby Hendrickson and preview Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.

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