The Nashville Predators have dealt forward Philip Tomasino to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2027 fourth-round pick that originally belonged to the New York Rangers.
After 11 games this season, Tomasino joins a Penguins team that has former Predators forwards Cody Glass, who is currently on IR with a concussion, & Anthony Beauvillier who was briefly with Nashville after last season’s trade deadline.
Now all five first-round players from 2014-2020 are no longer part of the organization: Kevin Fiala (traded), Dante Fabbro (waived), Eeli Tolvanen (waived), Tomasino, & Yaroslav Askarov (traded).
Before tonight’s game in New Jersey, Tomasino led the team with 10 scratches & had 11 all of last regular season before being assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.
Tomasino played 41 games with the Predators last year posting 20 points. His career-best season came in his rookie year (2021-22) amassing 32 points in 76 games.
Head coach Andrew Brunette & the Predators sent Tomasino down to play with the Admirals back on Feb. 12 for the remainder of the 22-23 season. With the Admirals he garnered 18 points in 22 games while scoring 6 points in 15 additional playoff games.
Brunette made it clear at the end-of-season press conference in May at Bridgestone Arena how he felt about the 23-year-old skater.
“If he puts the work in and is relentless then his skill will take over,” Brunette said. “But at different times this year, he wanted the skill first without the work, I’m not sure he has a chance to play for us next year.”
Tomasino went on to sign his current one-year deal back on Sept. 18 the day before training camp began. He made the final cut as one of Nashville’s reliable assets on offense & will be a restricted free agent this coming summer.
In the eyes of Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, it’s another flyer he can take on a former Predators player to see if his career can take off with with fresh start.
Last November general manager Barry Trotz said there was a frustration level with Tomasino & it would take more ice time to sift through what he needed to work on.
“There’s no one that can walk over & hand you a bucket of confidence,” Trotz said. “You would have to go out & create your own confidence. Some of it is on the situation & some of it is on the player. That’s really between the coaching staff, the player, & the agent because they have a really good rapport with their players trying to figure out what’s best for the player.”
Now that the Predators have their answer on Tomasino they have an open roster spot.
Nashville could look to Milwaukee for an additional skater to carry, but for now, no other moves have been made.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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