Tyson Barrie Out Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury
The Nashville Predators announced today that defenseman Tyson Barrie has suffered an upper-body injury and is out on a day-to-day timeline. Barrie did not play in the team’s loss last night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
It’s been a difficult season for Barrie, who has not performed up to expectations under the new regime in Nashville. The Predators have reportedly given Barrie permission to seek a trade. Seeing as the 32-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, Barrie’s performance this season is of heightened long-term importance to the player, so it makes sense that he would look elsewhere for a more advantageous situation in order to enter the open market on the strongest footing possible. But before he can even consider that, he’ll now need to focus on getting back to full health.
Predators Recall Yaroslav Askarov
Predators top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov was recalled from AHL Milwaukee on Wednesday, a team release states. NHL.com’s Robby Stanley initially reported Askarov was with the team at this morning’s skate. With backup Kevin Lankinen listed as day-to-day with an illness, Askarov will likely back up starter Juuse Saros tonight against the Hurricanes.
The 21-year-old Askarov has a .908 SV%, an 8-6-1 record and a 2.45 GAA in 15 games with Milwaukee in 2023-24. Nashville’s 2020 first-round pick has won four out of his last five games, and his numbers this season reflect those of a slightly above-average AHL starter. Among 50 AHL goalies with at least ten appearances this season, Askarov ranks 19th in SV% and 11th in GAA.
Askarov likely isn’t ready for full-time NHL duties yet, but his time should come shortly. Lankinen will be an unrestricted free agent after this season, and it seems likely the Predators will leave an opening for Askarov to grab the backup job behind Saros in 2024-25. In doing so, they’ll get solid value from the last season of Askarov’s entry-level contract, which carries a $925K cap hit.
The 6-foot-3 netminder has one NHL start to his name, coming early in 2023 on January 12 against the Canadiens. He made 31 saves on 35 shots in a 4-3 loss.
At the time of his draft, Askarov was considered one of the best goalie prospects in over a decade. While that billing hasn’t necessarily held up, he remains a top-five netminding prospect in the league. Assuming they hold onto him, he is on track to take over from Saros as Nashville’s starter eventually.
Tanner Molendyk (Wrist) Won't Play In The World Juniors
- Those two being added to the roster means that two players have to come off. Those are Predators blueliner Tanner Molendyk and Ducks defenseman Tristan Luneau who are both out due to injury. Molendyk was dealing with a wrist issue while Luneau had missed pre-tournament games due to illness which has turned out to be a viral infection. Molendyk was off to a nice start with WHL Saskatoon before making the team as he already has 28 points on his season in just 24 games. Luneau, meanwhile, cracked Anaheim’s roster in training camp although playing time has been limited; he has played in seven games for the Ducks and six more while on a conditioning loan with AHL San Diego.
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Capitals, Predators Discussed Evgeny Kuznetsov Trade Last Summer
- LeBrun also reported Friday that “it’s hard to see a market” for Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov ahead of the trade deadline, and if a trade is coming, it’s unlikely to happen until the 2024 draft. With one more season left after this at a $7.8MM cap hit, it’s a tough financial proposition for any contending team to absorb his contract, especially for a player who has just 11 points in 26 games this season. His trade request last summer was well-publicized, but the Capitals never found a trade partner to find him a fresh start. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, though, as LeBrun revealed Washington was in advanced talks with the Nashville Predators at one point during the summer around a swap of bloated contracts, likely dealing Kuznetsov for one of Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen, but the deal fell through. The Predators eventually moved on from both players, buying out the remainder of Duchene’s contract and trading Johansen to the Avalanche at 50 percent salary retention.
What Your Team Is Thankful For: Nashville Predators
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Nashville Predators.
Who are the Predators thankful for?
Saros is a franchise goalie, even if he hasn’t been playing like one this year. The 28-year-old has struggled to start the season and is in danger of finishing with a save percentage below .914 for the first time in his career as he currently sits at a .908 save percentage.
Save percentage doesn’t always paint a clear picture of a goaltender’s level of play, however, a deeper dive into Saros numbers shows that his Goals Saved Above Expected is sitting at -3.2 according to Money Puck. To give that number some context, Saros finished last season with a Goals Saved Above Expected of 46.7 which led the league and was well above Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark.
Saros may have struggled in 25 games this year, but his body of work over the last seven years is hard to ignore. He has been in the conversation for the Vezina Trophy in each of the last three years and basically willed the Predators into the playoffs in two of those three seasons.
The most incredible thing about Saros play is that at a time when teams are coveting taller goaltenders, Saros has put up elite numbers while standing just 5’11″ tall and weighing just 180 pounds.
If Saros can find his game this season, it could be a real game-changer for a team that has been able to remain in the playoff picture despite not getting the goaltending from Saros that they’ve become accustomed to.
What are the Predators thankful for?
The 2023 trade deadline.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators made a trade back in March 2023 that couldn’t have been better for the Predators and worse for the Penguins. Pittsburgh sent a 2023 second-round pick to Nashville for Mikael Granlund and his $5MM cap hit. Granlund failed to fit in with the Penguins picking up just a goal and four assists in 21 games as Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Granlund was then a salary cap dump in the Penguins’ move for Erik Karlsson in August. The trade was likely the move that sealed the fate for the Penguins’ previous management regime who were terminated shortly after the season. Nashville was the benefactor of a good draft pick, and valuable cap space that was at a premium at the time. They used the savings in the Granlund trade to re-tool this offseason with some veteran free agent additions.
The Granlund move was a solid piece of business but was hardly their most notable move. The Predators made a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning in which they moved forward Tanner Jeannot in exchange for Cal Foote and a 2025 first-round pick (Top 10 protected), a second-round pick in 2024, and a third, fourth and fifth-round pick in 2023. Jeannot was a very effective forward for the Predators but was in the midst of a down year and due an extension in the offseason. The trade raised more than a few eyebrows as Nashville was able to extract full value for Jeannot, and then some.
The Predators also moved on from long-time defender Matthias Ekholm when they dealt him to the Edmonton Oilers. In return, Nashville was able to acquire veteran Tyson Barrie, Reid Schaefer as well as a first-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round pick in 2024.
It was likely a difficult decision for Nashville to make, but opting to move on from several veterans at last year’s trade deadline could pay massive dividends down the road and may allow Nashville to retool on the fly rather than going into a full rebuild. So far this season, they have been able to remain competitive while having improved their farm system in the process. It is something that few teams have been able to do and it’ll be interesting to see how Nashville fares going forward.
What would the Predators be even more thankful for?
A long-term direction.
The Predators had a very confusing offseason after having a spectacular trade deadline. Barry Trotz was brought in to run the club and he made some interesting moves to clear up the Predators cap situation by trading Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche in a retained salary transaction and then buying out the expensive long-term deal of Matt Duchene. The Johansen move made sense as he wasn’t anywhere close to an $8MM player, however, Duchene still had some value and was just a year removed from a 43-goal season. He was the Predators second-leading scorer last season on a team that struggled to put the puck in the net.
The thought was that perhaps Nashville was going to bottom out and go into a rebuild, however, Trotz quickly put that notion to rest on July 1st when he signed Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist to multi-year deals that used up the savings on Duchene and Johansen.
In a vacuum, there was nothing wrong with the signings, but when coupled with the curious buyout of Duchene it made for a bit of a confusing offseason for many people looking at the situation from the outside. The Predators theoretically lost some offense in the flurry of transactions, and for a team that already had struggled to score goals, it was a bit of a headscratcher.
The good news is that the offense has improved dramatically this season, and the teams’ overall play has as well as they currently sit in a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference which has put the conversation about the team’s direction to bed for now. However, if they falter down the stretch it could start to become a question once again as they head into the summer of 2024.
What should be on the Predators holiday wish list?
A Tyson Barrie trade.
Barrie was a throw-in last year when the Edmonton Oilers traded with the Predators for defenseman Ekholm. Barrie and his $4.5MM cap hit were included in the deal so that Edmonton could make the money work and facilitate the deal. Since coming over to Nashville, Barrie has had nowhere close to the kind of offensive impact he was having at the previous NHL stops during his 13-year NHL career.
Barrie has reportedly asked for a trade in recent weeks and the Predators have given the veteran permission to seek one out with other teams. Barrie and Predators management have both commented to the media that they didn’t think he was a good fit with the Predators after Barrie was a healthy scratch.
Both sides would like to move on, and it would probably be best if they do. At 32 years of age Barrie probably still has a few more years of hockey left in him, and the Predators probably don’t want a player in their dressing room that is hoping to move on to a different organization.
The difficult spot for Nashville when it comes to a trade is that Barrie does come with a pretty big price tag and with just a goal and 10 assists in 28 games, he hasn’t been particularly good this season.
Sherwood Set To Return Tomorrow
- Sustaining relatively good health as an organization throughout much of the year, the Nashville Predators will be welcoming back forward Kiefer Sherwood tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks (X Link). Amid a breakout season as far as his career standards say, Sherwood has provided solid depth scoring to the Nashville lineup this season, scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games.
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Kiefer Sherwood Out With Upper-Body Injury
- The Nashville Predators announced that Kiefer Sherwood is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and will not play tonight in the team’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes. After spending much of last season with the Predator’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, Sherwood has earned himself a full-time spot on Nashville’s roster, scoring five goals and 11 points in 29 games.
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Predators Activate Cody Glass From Injured Reserve
Yesterday, Nashville opened up a pair of roster spots when they assigned Liam Foudy and Spencer Stastney to the minors. One of those spots has now been filled as 102.5 The Game’s Nick Kieser relays (Twitter link) that center Cody Glass has been activated off injured reserve.
Last season was somewhat of a breakout year for the 24-year-old. After being more of a fringe player up to that point, the sixth pick in 2017 locked down a regular middle-six role, setting career highs across the board in games (72), goals (14), assists (21), and points (35). That helped Glass earn a spot on Canada’s entry at the Worlds where he added four more assists in ten games.
His play also helped earn him a two-year, $5MM deal, a nice raise for someone who had to settle for a two-way qualifying offer the year before. The contract basically amounts to a second bridge deal to see if this type of production was repeatable or could be improved on or if he’s likely to remain more of a secondary contributor moving forward.
Unfortunately for him and the Preds, Glass struggled out of the gate offensively this season, recording just one assist in his first nine appearances despite averaging nearly 14 minutes a night of action before suffering an upper-body injury last month. It’s fair to say they’ll be counting on him to provide more than that now that he has been cleared to rejoin the lineup.
Trotz Unhappy With Barrie Leak; Preds Prefer Not To Use Last Retention Slot On Him
Over the weekend, news got out that Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie and his camp had been given permission to seek a trade. Speaking recently with 102.5 The Game (video link), GM Barry Trotz expressed his frustration over the news being leaked and how Barrie himself handled being made a healthy scratch for the first time in his career last weekend. The 32-year-old has typically been one of the better offensive producers from the blueline in his career with ten straight seasons of at least 38 points. However, he has been held without a goal and has just ten assists in his first 23 games this season. Barrie is in the final year of his contract which carries a $4.5MM AAV and with his offensive struggles so far, it might not be a deal that’s easy to move. Meanwhile, in his latest piece for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun noted that the Preds aren’t particularly inclined to use their last salary retention slot to help facilitate a swap which will only complicate those attempts further.
Predators Assign Liam Foudy And Spencer Stastney To AHL
After clearing waivers earlier today, the Predators wasted little time sending forward Liam Foudy to the minors. The team announced that both Foudy and defenseman Spencer Stastney were assigned to AHL Milwaukee. No subsequent recalls were announced.
Foudy was claimed off waivers from Columbus early in the season but was in and out of the lineup with Nashville. Between the two teams, he has played in 13 games so far, picking up three assists and seven shots on net in just under ten minutes a night of ice time.
The 23-year-old spent all of last season in the NHL with the Blue Jackets, getting into a career-high 62 contests. Now, he’ll head back to the minors where he should have a chance to play a much bigger role for the Admirals. Foudy’s last AHL stint was in the 2021-22 campaign when he had 19 points in 29 games with Cleveland.
As for Stastney, the 23-year-old has been up for a pair of stints with the Preds this season, spanning nine games in total where he has his first career goal while logging just over 16 minutes a night. He also has four points in ten games so far with the Admirals.
Nashville’s skater roster now stands at just a dozen healthy forwards and seven blueliners so they have a couple of open spots at their disposal. Considering they’re back in action on Saturday against Toronto, it wouldn’t be surprising to see at least one of those spots filled by then.