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Predators Acquire, Extend Nicolas Hague

at CDT | by 30 Comments

June 30: Both clubs have made the trade official. The Predators announced they’ve retained half of Sissons’ salary, opening up an additional $1.43MM in cap space for the Knights. Vegas is also sending its 2027 third-round pick to Nashville, although it can upgrade to their second-round choice if the Knights win at least two rounds in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

June 29: The Nashville Predators have acquired Nicolas Hague from the Vegas Golden Knights and signed the defenseman to a four-year, $22MM contract extension, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. In return, the Golden Knights will receive forward Colton Sissons and defender Jeremy Lauzon, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. Hague was set to become a restricted free agent on Tuesday, but will now carry a $5.5MM cap hit for the Preds. Lauzon and Sissons each have one year remaining on their contracts.

While it’s no surprise to see Hague traded, the destination isn’t expected. Nashville wasn’t one of the few clubs linked to Hague’s services earlier this month, and Hague’s name was then tossed into speculation for his potential involvement in a Mitch Marner sign-and-trade with the Maple Leafs. That Marner deal may still happen, but Hague’s rights won’t be a part of it.

Hague, while an effective piece for the Knights since they drafted him in the second round in 2017, has been deployed almost exclusively on their third pairing. He’s been good while doing it, posting 83 points and a +20 rating in 364 career games while averaging 17:33 per night, but his market value exceeded what Vegas was going to be able or willing to pay him on a new contract this summer, especially with Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb ahead of him on the left side.

It didn’t help matters that the Kitchener, Ontario, native is coming off something of a down year in 2024-25. His 12 points in 68 games weren’t too far south of his career average pace. It’s his career-worst possession numbers that caused concern. Hague posted a relative Corsi share of -4.9% at even strength as well as a career-low 48.3 xGF%, and there wasn’t an increase in difficulty in his minutes to explain it. He received an even 50/50 split of offensive and defensive zone starts at 5-on-5 and even saw a lower workload than usual at 17 minutes per game.

That makes Nashville’s steep commitment to the 26-year-old a risky one. A similarly-sized lefty in Kevin Bahl just received an extension at a $5.35MM cap hit from the Flames after a platform year in which he averaged north of 21 minutes per game, provided more offense, and had comparable possession impacts. He’s a year younger than Hague and received a six-year term. It makes it even more of a confusing fit when considering Hague will presumably slot in as Nashville’s No. 3 lefty as well, with Roman Josi and Brady Skjei ahead of him.

There’s now an added logjam amid left-shot depth defenders in Nashville. Andreas Englund is under contract on a one-way deal for 2025-26 and will presumably serve as a healthy extra when everyone is available. Where does that leave waiver-eligible players on two-way deals like veteran Jordan Oesterle or, far more importantly, 24-year-old Adam Wilsby, who showed solid defensive upside in a 23-game call-up last year while averaging over 18 minutes per game?

That’s the question general manager Barry Trotz will need to answer in the coming months before training camp opens. Meanwhile, Vegas immediately addresses the need for a Hague replacement in Lauzon, who fills the role for a price tag that’s $3.5MM cheaper than what Hague ended up signing for. The 28-year-old is less of an adept two-way defender than Hague but is among the most physical rearguards in the league, recording 987 hits in 240 games over the last four seasons.

Last season was a tough one for Lauzon, though. He now enters the final season of his contract after missing most of 2024-25 with a lower-body injury. He recorded one assist, a minus-four rating, and 127 hits in 28 games while averaging 17:58 per night before being shut down in January. While it’s a slight downgrade at the position for the Knights, Lauzon not only costs far less than what Hague was going to make, he also costs less than what Hague made on his expiring contract by $294K.

Not to be overlooked is Sissons, whose 13-year run in the Predators organization ends with this trade. The 31-year-old was a second-round pick in 2012 and has since grown into a quintessential middle-six checking center, ranking seventh in Predators franchise history with 690 games played. Nonetheless, he’s moved out as he enters the final season of the seven-year, $20MM contract he signed as a restricted free agent in 2019.

Sissons is also coming off something of a down year, limited to seven goals and 21 points in 72 showings in 2024-25 after back-to-back 30-point seasons. He also saw a reduction in ice time as well, going from well north of 16 minutes per game in 2023-24 to 14:22 nightly in 2024-25. He’ll get moved out as the Preds look to make more room in their lineup for their younger forwards, 2021 first-rounder Fedor Svechkov chief among them as he looks to serve as a direct replacement for Sissons in the top nine, particularly after the club also brought in center Erik Haula from the Devils earlier this month.

He’ll now serve as bottom-six depth for Vegas, a particularly necessary pickup if Nicolas Roy is moved to Toronto in the Marner sign-and-trade as rumored. That would save Vegas about $140K in cap space at the position – not much, but something for a team for which every cent counts.

As for Vegas, they’re now officially up against it cap-wise after taking on Lauzon and Sissons in this deal. They have a “full roster” at 21 of 23 players with roughly $750K in space, per PuckPedia. That projection has defenseman Alex Pietrangelo on standard injured reserve instead of LTIR, though. He’s now likely to miss the entire campaign, which would give them an additional $8.8MM in spending flexibility if his LTIR placement is executed perfectly. That, plus dealing Roy to Toronto, would leave Vegas with closer to $12.5MM in cap space – potentially enough to accommodate a Marner extension.

PHR’s Josh Erickson contributed significantly to this article.

Images courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images (Hague) and Steve Roberts-Imagn Images (Sissons).

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