We’re past the halfway point of the NHL season for the Nashville Predators and things have not gone as planned. At 12-16-1, the Predators are a far cry from a Stanley Cup contender.
It’s not all bad. The Predators have some younger players that have been in the lineup as of late and have provided some reasons for optimism as the team moves forward. However, the main focus right now with Predators fans seems to be when —- not if — they begin to start trading off assets.
Here’s today’s edition of Stanley’s Shots:
- What is Mattias Ekholm’s trade value?
Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm appears to be the grand prize of the 2021 NHL trade deadline and could fetch a huge return.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet in his most recent 31 Thoughts piece, the Predators “made it clear the Los Angeles/Toronto [Jake Muzzin] deal is the template for Ekholm.” That deal was a first-round pick and two prospects from Toronto in exchange for Muzzin’s services back in 2019.
I understand the temptation to trade Ekholm as the ever-increasing inevitability of a rebuild draws nearer. I’m not even saying it’s the wrong move or the wrong idea. The guy is just so good, and I’m convinced that Ekholm could still be a part of the solution on the other side of the “rebuild” or “retool” or whatever word you want to use.
I know that there was a report a few weeks ago from Friedman saying the Predators were believed to have three “untouchables” in Roman Josi, Pekka Rinne and Ryan Ellis. I’m not saying Ekholm should be “untouchable”, but you can’t convince me that he’s any less untouchable than Ellis should be.
- Pekka Rinne doesn’t appear to be going anywhere
One topic we threw around last week on Robby & Rexrode was the idea of if the Predators begin to start selling off some assets, would they consider trading Pekka Rinne to a contender for potentially one last shot at a Stanley Cup?
Some Predators fans shudder at the mere thought of Rinne wearing another jersey, which is understandable. However, we’ve seen this happen several times in NHL history where a veteran NHL player who hasn’t won a championship gets traded to another team for a legitimate shot at a title. The most famous example, of course, is when Ray Bourque won a Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 after spending 21 years of a Hall of Fame career with the Boston Bruins.
The most important question in this discussion was always pretty simple: Would this even be something that Rinne would even consider? It looks like we have an answer to that question.
Adam Vingan from The Athletic came out with a story this week where he talked about this very topic with Rinne. He said the thought of playing somewhere else hadn’t crossed Rinne’s mind, and Rinne added to his desire to remain here with the Predators, saying “I do want to retire as a Predator.”
It would be really cool to see a player as important as Rinne has been to this franchise finish his career playing for one team. You just don’t see that happen a lot in today’s sports world. Regardless of what happens from here on out and whether or not this season is Rinne’s last one, it’s safe to say he will become the first Predator to have his jersey hanging in the rafters at Bridgestone Arena.
- Duchene getting closer
Predators forward Matt Duchene joined us on Robby & Rexrode for his weekly visit on Wednesday and talked about the progress he’s making coming back from his lower-body injury.
“I’m feeling great,” Duchene said. “I’m skating pretty much full out right now. There’s still some little things that you can’t mimic that would hold me back from playing a game quite yet, but I’m on pace to beat my timeline so I’m hoping that’s the case and hoping that when the boys get back that I’m pretty close to returning.”
Duchene has been out since the third period of a 5-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on March 4 and the original timeline for the injury was 3-5 weeks.
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