It’s beginning to look like a new era of the Nashville Predators after the dust settled on the NHL’s trade deadline today.
General Manager Barry Trotz and his staff completed four trades this week and are starting to let the young guns get playing time with the tail end of the season approaching.
Trotz got deadline week started by trading Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday evening while the team was playing in Columbus.
Nashville acquired the Wild’s 2028 second round pick for McCarron, a fourth-line centerman who played 292 regular season games with Nashville as he revived his career after being moved from the Montreal Canadiens in 2020.
During Tuesday’s game, the Predators also had forward Cole Smith on the move, with that transaction in the works while the team was playing the Blue Jackets.
Smith touched the ice for three seconds to log a game, but was parked on the end of the bench for the rest of his final game in a Nashville sweater. As the team was packing up to head home, it was announced that Smith had been moved to the Vegas Golden Knights for a third round pick in 2028.
“We’re going to miss two great people, two parts of our culture and what they bring every day,” head coach Andrew Brunette said Tuesday night.
“They’re wonderful people. They’re kind of like family being around them for three years. Sad to see them go and at the same time, hope for the best. They’re going to places with an opportunity to have a long run and further their career.”
On Wednesday night, Nashville then made its third trade, moving depth defenseman Nick Blankenburg to the Colorado Avalanche. Trotz mustered a 2027 fifth round pick from Colorado, a divisional opponent that is due to be a top seed in this springs playoffs.
Fast forward to Thursday and Nashville made a collection of recalls from its AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. Fedor Svechkov, Reid Schaefer, Ryan Ufko and Joakim Kemell were brought up in time for that night’s game against the Boston Bruins.
Kemell made it to the Predators bench after the national anthem and shortly thereafter hopped on the ice with linemates Tyson Jost and Zach L’Heureux.
Prior to the puck dropping, Trotz’s final trade before the deadline was moving forward Michael Bunting to the Dallas Stars for a third-round pick in this summer’s draft — a choice that initially belonged to the Seattle Kraken.
All four trades involved pending Preds free agents, none of whom were engaged in contract extension talks with the organization.
It was a quiet Friday afternoon for the Predators, who did not makes any trades while there were rumors being spread about Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Erik Haula and Jonathan Marchessault.
After the Predators 6-3 win on Thursday night, Marchessault was pointed in his answer about how he was treating the trade deadline as Nashville begins its youth movement.
“I have a no-move [clause] so I’m handling it as well as I can,” Marchessault said.
“They took a different approach at the deadline this year and it’s kind of where they were going last summer as well. Kept going in the same direction and it’s part of the league we’re in. We’re just players here trying to bring our best effort.”
Marchessault added that he did not want to disclose any details pertaining to any possible trade discussion with Trotz.
“I worked hard to put myself in a situation to have a no-move, so I have control over that. Right now, it is what it is,” Marchessault said.
The Predators (28-26-8) are now set up for a busy summer. And in the meantime, their roster features premier prospects who could be mainstays as soon as this fall.