While expansion was the early headline in what will be a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months to come. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Nashville Predators.
While things didn’t get off to too good of a start for Nashville as they narrowly made it into the playoffs, they saved their best for last, giving the Penguins all they could handle in the Stanley Cup Final before Pittsburgh prevailed in the end. Now, GM David Poile is tasked with trying to put the final pieces in place to help the Preds take that last step forward. Here are some of the ways he can try to accomplish just that.
Replace Neal
Unable to strike a protection deal with Vegas, the Predators were hit hard at the expansion draft as they lost winger James Neal to the Golden Knights. While Neal hasn’t blossomed into a high end top liner like some had hoped for, he has still hit the 20 goal market in every season of his nine year career which makes him one of the more consistent secondary scorers out there.
While Nashville’s forward depth stepped up in the playoffs, it’s tough to expect someone to step in and take over that level of production right away. They have youngsters like Kevin Fiala or Pontus Aberg that could potentially fit the bill but the more prudent course of action would be to find a veteran replacement and allow the youngsters to ease their way into that role (or wait for more injuries to strike).
To that end, Poile has shown considerable interest in trading for Matt Duchene this offseason. However, he hasn’t been willing to move one of his top four blueliners which has stalled talks. The recent signing of Scott Hartnell basically replaces the production of Colin Wilson and with most of the top free agents now signed, the trade route is looking like a likelier course of action now whether it winds up being Duchene or someone else.
New Deal For Johansen
One of the big questions that came up when the Predators and Blue Jackets swapped center Ryan Johansen and defenseman Seth Jones back in early 2016 was Johansen’s contract situation as he was in the middle of his bridge deal. For starters, he was going to be due a sizable qualifying offer of $6MM, one they recently extended to retain his rights as expected.
The bigger potential concern is where Johansen sits with regards to unrestricted free agency. Although he’s only 24, the fact that he has six years of service time already makes him UFA eligible as of next summer. If he wants to go that route next offseason, he can simply file for arbitration next week, go through that process, and hit the open market as a number one center in his prime.
Johansen has fit in quite nicely since joining Nashville and is their top pivot, one that they can’t afford to lose. Because the arbitration filing deadline is fast approaching though, Poile will likely want to make a big push to get a long-term deal done in the coming days to get rid of any uncertainty as quickly as possible. The early asking price to get that deal done is believed to be $8.5MM.
Short-Term Or Long-Term For Arvidsson?
Winger Viktor Arvidsson was one of the biggest surprises in the league in 2016-17. After putting up just eight goals and eight assists in 56 games with Nashville the year before, he became a legitimate go-to scorer, tallying 31 goals and 30 assists in 81 games this past season. He did so at the perfect time as he will hit restricted free agency this weekend.
Poile’s going to have a decision to make with regards to what type of contract to offer the 24 year old. He sits three years away from unrestricted status so a bridge deal may only be a one year offer. Given that Arvidsson is only a year removed from spending time in the minors, the safer play is to go short-term and see if his 61 points was a one-time thing or a sign of things to come.
On the flip side, if management is sold on him being able to provide a comparable level of production down the road, this is the time to try to lock Arvidsson up on what could prove to be a team-friendly deal later on. With nearly $20MM in cap space per CapFriendly, they have the financial flexibility to pick which way they want to go with him. Because of the big leap in scoring this season, his RFA case is one of the more intriguing ones to watch for this offseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.