After forward Jonathan Marchessault signed a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the Nashville Predators at the start of free agency, one of the main questions surrounding his departure from the Vegas Golden Knights is how hard the team tried to retain him. Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game reports that Vegas offered Marchessault a similar salary but the years offered were well off his expectations.
Questions will surely arise about why the Golden Knights were unwilling to offer one of the original ’misfits’ a five-year term; especially if they were willing to compete with other teams on salary. Marchessault had spent the last seven years of his career in Vegas where he’s recorded 192 goals and 417 points in 514 games while scoring another 36 goals and 75 points in 95 playoff games en route to a Conn Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup Championship in 2023.
In the end, Marchessault decided to join former captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Steven Stamkos in Nashville for the next several seasons. In an article from Stephen Whyno and John Wawrow of WFTV9, Stamkos and Marchessault called each other regarding Nashville as the two were hoping to land in the same destination.
Other Central notes:
- There has been some speculation about the future of the Chicago Blackhawks’ first-round pick, Artyom Levshunov, on whether he will stay another year at Michigan State University or start the year in Chicago. If Levshunov decides to turn pro, the Blackhawks are leaning towards having Levshunov start with their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago will certainly not want to rush Levshunov’s development as he is coming off a 35-point season in 38 games for the Spartans and the Blackhawks do not appear ready to contend for the playoffs quite yet.
- Another Central Division team will take it slow with their first-round selection of the 2024 NHL Draft. Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Dispatch reports the St. Louis Blues are leaning towards sending Adam Jiricek, the 16th overall pick, to the Ontario Hockey League instead of staying in Czechia. Jiricek only played 19 games for HC Plzeň this past season due to injury and would join the Brantford Bulldogs if he moved to North America.
Preds are happy to take those two players off the Knights and Lightning’s hands. :)
This is why I really don’t understand the Brodie signing. If he’s not going back to MSU then why stick him in Rockford? The Hawks aren’t winning the Cup this year and he’s more physically capable of playing in the NHL than Bedard and Korchinski were. I really didn’t see the need to give Brodie 1 year much less 2. True Levshunov will be playing against better competition in Rockford than MSU but what if he excels in Rockford and everyone is healthy where can you move him up without making a deal for Murphy who can dictate where he goes? Or worse somebody you just signed. KD confused me here.
I strongly agree with the TBL and VGK here. Successful organisations don’t pay for past success, they pay for future success. NSH will get a couple of good hits on the glass bbq and then have a couple of years wondering why they gave out so much money for these older fellas.
Emotionally, it’s hard. But both business, compete and success wise, it’s very smart.
If the Preds win the Cup, they’ll gladly wonder why they made these signings. :)
Ain’t gonna happen Gbear, lol.
On the other hand: Edmonton was one of the three oldest teams in the league, and Florida had some very young players and also some very old ones (Florida’s most important player was derided as washed up a couple years ago by basically everyone, as it turns out).
If you look at the playoffs in general (which included Vegas and Tampa both), the league was riddled with veteran teams – Carolina, NYI, Dallas. So many guys this age or older.
It’s not as simple as saying ‘we won’t sign guys over 33’ or whatever. Because if you do that, your team will never be good enough to compete. That isn’t paying for past success; that’s understanding that guys in the NHL who have been there before are very often still good for much longer than their age says. And Nashville is going to be a much better team because of that.
Oh, it’s happening, jminn. You just wait and see. :)
You’ve misunderstood – I don’t mean age can’t perform at all. I’m saying you have to pay for future success. Take the Kane, Toews and Keith contracts in CHI or the Doughty, Kopitar contracts in LA. Great players for sure but contracts were paid for the success of the past. Then their teams did diddly for the next 7 years with no cap to work in because the didn’t pay for the future projection, the made an emotional decision. I understand it but it doesn’t make it right. Same problem in SJS where they paid everyone after the cup run and had these long term contracts imagining success would keep going – it doesn’t. People get old, people get injured. It’s life, not @ing anyone.
The players NSH got are going to be awesome next year – probably the year after that. But Guentzel will be good for TBL for 8 years. That’s a business decision. And it cost almost nothing; it just took a lot of guys.
NSH will probably make the playoffs with their big wins in free agency but again they won’t pick high and the 10 year projections aren’t great. No beef with them, I like NSH as a team and their fans seem good. I feel like the deserved a real rebuild 3-4 years ago after that cup run they had.
The Nashville Predators are literally picking up former Tampa Bay Lightning players. They already have Luke Schenn. Now, they added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, & Scott Wedgewood. At this rate, Nashville is practically (& literally) building their own Lightning team lol. Two other former Lightning guys in Yanni Gourde & Carter Verhaeghe are FA next year, maybe they add them next lol. I can’t say I blame Nashville’s strategy honestly, as Tampa is the model system various teams are trying to replicate (& it’s worked) look no further than the Colorado Avalanche & the Florida Panthers for examples as I’m not the only one who has mentioned this either. Though Nashville’s approach isn’t about system but about gathering former players of the Lightning franchise which is a different approach lol.
it’s called trying to win not copy the tampon bay lightning, you guys shafted your captain after years and years of him putting it all on the line for that franchise… and they go and acquire a player that plays very similar but for 1 million more than what Nashville payed… looks like the Bolts don’t know what they’re doing at this point in time.
This guy is delusional lol I’ve said it before in these comments but he’s literally the biggest homer on this site. He can’t see anything objectively, only “Tampa bay good, everybody else dumb and bad”
I’m delusional?!?…Yeah, okay there “keyboard warrior”. This from the guy who said “no one wants Jeannot.” Yeah, shows what you know, not much apparently. Now, you’re making baseless assumptions about me like some blowhard but not surprised as you’re such a pathetic know-it-all since you seem to be trolling me like some internet weirdo.
Wow…are you dense. The second I saw “Tampon Bay” in your comment I knew I can’t take you seriously as I’m dealing with an adolescent apparently. Furthermore, you missed my theorized points completely but whatever & not surprised…I guess you need to feel like some internet hotshot lol