The Nashville Predators have officially acquired veteran defenseman Alexei Emelin from the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2019 third-round pick, according to the Nashville Predators. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Vegas will retain just under $1.2MM of Emelin’s salary on their books.
Emelin was recently acquired by Vegas through the expansion draft as they took the 31-year-old blueliner from Montreal with the expectation they would flip him for future picks, which they did. Emelin boasts a $4.1MM salary for this year before he hits unrestricted free agency next summer. A defensive defenseman, Emelin scored just two goals and eight assists on the season for the Canadiens. With this move, he will rejoin former Canadiens teammate P.K. Subban in Nashville.
There were thoughts the Golden Knights might have trouble trading Emelin, who many question to be a top-4 defender, along with his contract, which proved to be an issue if Vegas had to retain almost $1.2MM of his salary. However, a third-round pick is a quality return for someone who they thought they might have to hold onto. The 2019 third-rounder gives Vegas 12 picks in the 2019 draft and seven in the first three rounds.
Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report the deal.
Emelin won’t be a top 4 defensemen in Nashville. Their top two d-pairings are set with Josi-Ellis & Subban-Ekholm.He’ll be on the 3rd pair with Yanick Weber. So, it doesn’t really matter if he is a top 4 d-man or not because he won’t be asked to play that role.