The Nashville Predators made another trade on March 4, sending defenseman Nick Blankenburg to the Colorado Avalanche.
The Predators received a 2027 fifth-round pick in return for Blankenburg, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The full remainder of his $775,000 salary will go to the Avalanche in the deal.
Advertisement
Blankenburg, 27, played in 49 games for the Predators this season, scoring six goals and 15 assists. In two seasons with Nashville, Blankenburg played 109 games as a regular contributor on the blueline.
Signed as a free agent in 2024, Blankenburg emerged as a consistent two-way defenseman after injuries to Roman Josi and Luke Schenn. His partnership with Brady Skjei was the team’s best defensive pairing last season and it led to another big role in 2025-26.
This marked the third trade general manager Barry Trotz made heading into the NHL trade deadline on March 6. On March 3, Trotz sent Michael McCarron to the Minnesota Wild for a 2028 second-round pick and Cole Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2028 third-round pick.
With the trade, the Predators now have 32 picks in the next three drafts.
Advertisement
GM SEARCH: Who will replace Barry Trotz as Predators GM? 6 candidates to consider
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators trade Nick Blankenburg to Avalanche for 5th round pick