With the NHL Trade Deadline less than a week away, General Manager David Poile and the Nashville Predators have some big decisions to make. Yes, one of those decisions is which player(s) to go after but one of the lesser discussed topics is whether this is the year to go all-in.
With an NHL-worst power play (12.7 percent) and serious consistency issues that have seen them look like a Jykll & Hyde team depending on the stretch of games you’re looking at, one has to wonder whether it behooves Poile to sell off the final key assets in the system (Milwaukee Admirals winger Eeli Tolvanen and the rights to Boston University defenseman Dante Fabbro) for what very well could be a pure rental player.
Jeff Marek of Sportsnet spent some time on Preds Insiders last night.
“Look, as much as St. Louis is on a hot streak right now — 10 wins in a row and they look unbeatable — the class in the (Central Division) is Nashville and Winnipeg, period,” Marek said. “You could even make an argument that the class in the Western Conference is Nashville and Winnipeg, period. Neither David Poile nor [Jets GM] Kevin Cheveldayoff wants either side to one-up them at this trade deadline.”
Barring an unexpected and inexplicable first round upset, Nashville and Winnipeg are on a collision course to play each other in the second round and, therefore, the Western Conference’s road to the Stanley Cup Final will go through either the province of Manitoba or the state of Tennessee.
February 25 at 2:00pm Central. Whatever the roster looks like at that time (sans paperwork still being processed by the League, of course) is the roster they’ve got.
“Both teams have cards in their hands that they can play,” Marek said. “If one makes a move, don’t be surprised if the other does. This is an arms race between these two and no one wants to give either side one single inch.”
With all that in mind, it’s time to look at the status of my Trade Deadline Big Board (originally tweeted on February 5).
1. Mark Stone (Ottawa) – TRADED TO VEGAS ON 2/25
2. Artemi Panarin (Columbus)
3. Wayne Simmonds (Philadelphia) – ACQUIRED ON 2/25
4. Jeff Skinner (Buffalo)
5. Matt Duchene (Ottawa) – TRADED TO COLUMBUS ON 2/22
6. Michael Ferland (Carolina)
7. Brian Boyle (New Jersey) – ACQUIRED ON 2/6
8. Ben Lovejoy (New Jersey) – TRADED TO DALLAS ON 2/22
9. Chris Kreider (NY Rangers)
10. Gustav Nyquist (Detroit) – TRADED TO SAN JOSE ON 2/25
11. Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim) – SIGNED NEW 5-YEAR DEAL IN ANAHEIM
12. Alec Martinez (LA Kings)
13. Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa) – TRADED TO COLUMBUS ON 2/23
14. Mats Zuccarello (NY Rangers) – TRADED TO DALLAS ON 2/23
15. Mike Hoffman (Ottawa)
A name I didn’t mention in my original Big Board but would slide in around #14 now that Simmonds and Ferland are deemed unnecessary thanks to the acquisition of Brian Boyle is Detroit Red Wings blueliner Nick Jensen. I’ve mentioned him as a possible solution before and wanted to make sure I mentioned him here while still holding on the integrity of my original list. UPDATE (2/22, 1:21pm): Jensen was acquired by the Washington Capitals.
For the Predators to set themselves up for a deep run, I don’t think anybody ranked below #4 is enough. Therefore, in my opinion, Poile should be swinging for the fences or holding onto the precious few elite assets he has left. Regardless of what he chooses to do, he has less than a week to do it.
You can listen to the entire episode of Preds Insiders below.
