After a whirlwind of moves across the NHL, all of the dust has settled.
According to Puck Pedia, the Nashville Predators have $6,835,642 of salary cap space at the end of the trade deadline. They retained all three first-round picks coming up in this summer’s draft as well.
Nashville has made three trades since last Saturday. It started with forward Gustav Nyquist going to the Minnesota Wild. Then it was Luke Schenn and Tommy Novak who were moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins, however, on Friday Schenn was flipped to the Winnipeg Jets.
Before general manager Barry Trotz sat down for his press conference the team announced forward Mark Jankowski was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2026 fifth-round pick.
At the end of it all, the Predators brought in forward Michael Bunting, 2nd round pick 2026, 4th round pick 2026, and a 5th round pick 2026.
“We identified Bunting as a piece that would possibly take us out of free agency cause we said we’re going to need this here next year. We’re going to have some young guys come play for us that have spent some time in Milwaukee,” Trotz said of his lone player addition.
“They’re going to start coming, they’re [a lot] more ready and we’re going to give them an opportunity and be patient, surround them with our veteran guys. That blend is going to start happening.”
Trotz shared his thoughts on what he had been ruminating about this season and now he’s shedding off what didn’t work and accepting that his long-term mission is now taking some adapting. It wasn’t what he expected but here his team is sitting in 30th place.
“Those players we added, plus our veteran players, they’re going have to hold the fort until our young guys get here,” Trotz said. “When they get here we can’t leave them alone. My vision for us this year was to be in that Wild Card race and the expectations were higher around the league.”
A line he repeated was that his plan was in pen but the path is in pencil.
Part of that involved retaining the services of Colton Sissons and Michael McCarron. Trotz had offers but didn’t feel it met his requirement to move on from them.
“Every player was in discussion at some point or another. You take values on them and set a value on what you would take for them and if you don’t get it you don’t move it,” Trotz said. “We recognized we have to keep some pieces and we had to move some pieces.”
While Nashville’s inconsistencies have led them to where they are at this point, Trotz doesn’t want to see his team quit regardless of how the season started. It’s clear he wants to build the culture and the character that comes from strife.
“I want to see us start forming an identity that we can carry forward next year,” Trotz said. “A lot of the disruption this year is the inconsistency in our play and I’m going to take some blame for the inconsistency and because of that, I’ve made changes… It’s made it even more difficult sometimes to get some cohesion.”
There have been times this season when head coach Andrew Brunette has said frustration can lead to being a bad teammate or person.
Those inconsistencies and emotions have led to Nashville’s locker room getting into a rut and when that’s happened the identity can’t develop.
So, how has Trotz perceived not having the answers at a time for what his team became?
“Sometimes you can’t explain the unexplainable. If I asked you, I don’t have a specific question, but there’s something in your life where you go “I just don’t know, it just happened,” Trotz said. “Sometimes that is [the answer] and you try to analyze what happened, the game is so fast and pucks bounce a certain way.”
While trades are now on hold, Nashville can continue to roadmap its plan and seek out the best moves to build a team that clings to a strong identity.
Former Predators Skaters Traded on Deadline Day
Cody Glass (PIT) ––> New Jersey Devils
Craig Smith (CHI) ––> Detroit Red Wings
Luke Schenn (PIT) ––> Winnipeg Jets
Anthony Beauvillier (PIT) ––> Washington Capitals
Luke Kunin (SJS) ––> Columbus Blue Jackets
Shea Weber’s contract (UTAH) ––> Chicago Blackhawks
LISTEN HERE ⬇️ for Barry Trotz’s full press conference
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
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