Predators Re-Sign Marc Del Gaizo To Two-Way Deal
The Predators have re-signed defenseman Marc Del Gaizo to a two-way contract, per a team announcement. The restricted free agent will earn a $775K salary if on the NHL roster next season and $125K in the AHL, Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean reports.
Del Gaizo, 25 next month, was a fourth-round pick of the Preds in 2019. He made his NHL debut last season, recording three assists and a +2 rating while averaging 16:28 across nine appearances in a pair of call-ups in November and March.
The New Jersey native is coming off a career-best season in the minors with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. On assignment to the Ads, he set new career highs in goals (8), points (34), and rating (+18) in 60 appearances, leading or tying for the team lead in every offensive category. An undersized (5’11″/187 lbs) left-shot defender, Del Gaizo ended his 2023-24 campaign with seven points and a +6 rating in 15 playoff games for Milwaukee.
Del Gaizo was an RFA this summer after completing his entry-level contract. After the Preds signed Juuso Pärssinen this morning, he was one of two remaining RFAs Nashville had. Now, just forward Philip Tomasino remains without a deal.
Entering his fourth professional season, Del Gaizo is no longer waiver-exempt. On the cusp of challenging for more NHL minutes, there’s a non-zero chance he gets claimed if Nashville attempts to sneak him through and return him to Milwaukee to start the season. Spencer Stastney played more last season and has the inside track to lock down an extra defense spot on the Preds’ opening night roster, supplementing their six D-men signed to one-way deals, but he is still waiver-exempt. That could prove advantageous to Del Gaizo’s chances of starting the season in Tennessee instead of Wisconsin.
Predators Re-Sign Juuso Pärssinen To One-Way Deal
The Predators are close to re-signing RFA center Juuso Pärssinen to a one-year, one-way deal, according to a team release. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report the contract. The left-shot forward will earn the league minimum salary of $775K.
Pärssinen, 23, made his NHL debut with Nashville in 2022-23 – certainly coming ahead of schedule for the 2019 seventh-round pick. He stayed on the roster for the entirety of the season after his initial November recall, making 45 appearances before an upper-body injury ended his season in late February. He posted six goals and 19 assists for 25 points, finishing eighth on the team in points per game, and averaged 14:20 per night while winning 50.2% of his faceoffs and logging 76 hits with middling possession numbers.
Last season, Pärssinen made the team out of camp but couldn’t carry over his overall level of play into his sophomore campaign. He posted 12 points in 44 games with similarly below-average possession numbers and a much worse showing in the faceoff dot (37.5 FOW%) before being assigned to the minors in late January.
Pärssinen remained there for the rest of the regular season, making 36 appearances for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals with seven goals, 18 assists, 25 points, and a +12 rating. He was added back to the Preds’ playoff roster, and he did draw into the lineup for their season-ending 1-0 loss in Game 6 of the First Round against the Canucks.
An RFA at season’s end following the conclusion of his entry-level contract, Pärssinen is at a transitional spot in his development, making it difficult to work out a deal. His performance over the last few seasons in the minors has warranted his NHL looks.
The 6’3″ pivot’s production and physicality in a bottom-nine role certainly make it seem like there should be a consistent role for him down the line. Still, there are enough holes in his all-around game that warranted his demotion. As such, Nashville was likely angling for a two-way deal in negotiations here, likely with a slightly higher NHL salary should he spend time on the major league roster. Instead, Pärssinen lands a one-way pact that’s much safer financially.
It’s also indicative that he’ll make the Preds’ opening night roster for the second year in a row. With Pärssinen under contract, the Preds now have the minimum 12 forwards on their projected 2024-25 roster, per PuckPedia, and there are few (if any) forwards in the organization on entry-level or two-way contracts with a legitimate shot at starting the year in the NHL. They now have $1.5MM in projected cap space with two open roster spots and another RFA forward, Philip Tomasino, still left to sign.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Nashville Predators
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We begin with a look at the Central Division; next up is Nashville.
Nashville Predators
Current Cap Hit: $84,904,199 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Luke Evangelista (one year, $797.5K)
Evangelista’s first full NHL campaign was a good one as he notched 39 points after putting up 15 points in 24 games in 2022-23. That isn’t a statistical profile that suggests a long-term agreement will be forthcoming but if he can have a similar offensive showing this season, Evangelista could approach the $3MM mark on a bridge agreement.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
D Dante Fabbro ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Gustav Nyquist ($3.15MM, UFA)
Nyquist came to Nashville in the middle of a down season which hurt his market last summer. However, his first full season with the Preds was his best as he set new career bests in assists (52) and points (75). A repeat showing could give him a shot at a fair-sized raise, albeit on a short-term deal as he’ll be 36 when the 2025-26 season kicks off.
Fabbro has shown flashes of being a key secondary piece on Nashville’s back end in the past but has settled into more of a depth role in recent years. That said, he’s still just 26 and as a right-shot player, he should still command a fair bit of interest next summer in free agency. Even if he stays in the role he’s had lately, he should push past the $3MM mark on his next contract.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Mark Jankowski ($800K, UFA)
D Jeremy Lauzon ($2MM, UFA)
F Michael McCarron ($900K, UFA)
D Luke Schenn ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Cole Smith ($1MM, UFA)
F Colton Sissons ($2.857MM, UFA)
D Spencer Stastney ($825K, RFA)
G Scott Wedgewood ($1.5MM, UFA)
Sissons’ seven-year contract drew some ire at the time for someone whose role was somewhat limited at the time but it has held up relatively well in most of those seasons. He has provided enough secondary scoring to give them some value on that front while being a key defensive player. He should land another multi-year deal above $3MM if that holds up the next two years. Smith has emerged as a viable fourth-line physical winger over the last two seasons. Those players tend to do well on the open market still so if he can push past the double-digit goal mark, he could double his price tag in 2026. McCarron and Jankowski have been depth players throughout their careers and are likely to see their future contracts check in relatively close to the league minimum.
Schenn had a resurgent season in 2022-23, moving him from someone making around the minimum salary to someone making nearly four times that much. He had a limited role with the Preds last season; it’s fair to suggest they were expecting him to cover more than 15 minutes a night. Continuing with that level of ice time could land him back near the minimum in 2026.
Lauzon was counted on to play a bigger role last season, ranking fourth among Nashville blueliners in ATOI while leading the NHL in hits by 60 over the next closest player. Two more years like that would give him a strong market heading to free agency where doubling his current price tag could be doable. Stastney split last season between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee and might be in a similar role this season. He’ll need to crack the lineup full-time before having a shot at passing the $1MM mark.
Wedgewood had a good run as the backup in Dallas which allowed him to get a 50% raise on this deal with Nashville. Barring injury, he won’t be counted on to play as many games as a top-level backup and if that winds up being the case, that will prevent him from getting closer to the top backup money ($3MM or more) that many netminders have received in recent years.
Signed Through 2026-27
D Alexandre Carrier ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Thomas Novak ($3.5MM, UFA)
F Ryan O’Reilly ($4.5MM, UFA)
The decision to sign O’Reilly as their top center last summer was a bit of a curious one considering that he hadn’t been in that role for several years and the fact he was coming off his lowest point-per-game rate since he was a teenager. However, he showed that he still had a high level of offense in his game while continuing to be an above-average player at the faceoff dot and a strong defender. Even if there’s a bit of a dip in his production given some of the extra firepower brought in this summer, this is still a good price tag if O’Reilly ultimately settles in as more of a second liner. There may be some concern for the final year of the deal when he’s 36 but right now, this has worked out quite well for the Preds.
Novak was a feel-good story in 2022-23, putting up 43 points in 51 games after being recalled from the minors. He showed last year that the performance wasn’t just a mirage, surpassing the 40-point mark again, earning himself this new deal in the process. As long as Novak continues to stay around the 40-point range, Nashville will get at least a reasonable return on this contract.
Carrier bounced back well after a rough 2022-23 season, spending a lot of time in Nashville’s top four which gave him some leverage heading to the open market. He opted not to test it, instead accepting a 50% increase in his cap hit, not a bad outcome for someone who only became a regular NHL player in 2021-22.
Predators’ Decision To Extend Juuse Saros Was An Easy One
The Nashville Predators were doomed for a goalie logjam the moment they selected Yaroslav Askarov in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft. That’s since come to fruition, with Askarov outgrowing his box and demanding a trade to the San Jose Sharks, following Nashville’s long-term signing of starter Juuse Saros. Predators general manager Barry Trotz spoke intimately about the situation with The Athletic’s Michael Russo – sharing that, at the end of the day, Nashville couldn’t deny Saros’ winning precedent. Trotz said, “We went on a really incredible [16-0-2 run in March] and all of a sudden, everything came together and we were a good team… I saw that our older players — Saros, the Josis, Forsbergs and everybody — that they got themselves to a really high level. And I said, ‘If we’re going to have a little bit of a window, elite goalies don’t grow on trees.'”
That was the mindset that drove Nashville to sign Saros the day he became eligible for an extension. Trotz said that it was an easy decision for both sides, adding that Saros had always wanted to be a Predator, and carries the exact mindset the organization looks for. The two sides landed on an eight-year, $61.9MM extension with an annual cap hit of $7.74MM, a nod to Saros’ jersey number.
On the surface, it’s hard to say Nashville made the wrong choice. Saros has emerged as a premier NHL starter after honing his skills through four seasons as the backup to franchise legend Pekka Rinne. The gradual climb paid off when Saros took on the starting role in the 2020-21 season and posted a .927 save percentage in 36 games – good for fourth-highest in the league. He’s stayed at that level ever since, appearing in a league-high 64 games this past season and maintaining a .906 save percentage. That statline brings Saros’ totals since 2020 up to 231 appearances and a cumulative .916 save percentage – good for second and seventh in the league respectively.
But while Saros has settled into Nashville’s starting role, Askarov has emerged as potentially the best goalie prospect in the league. That’s certainly the torch he was handed when Nashville selected him 11th-overall, making him the highest-drafted goalie since Jack Campbell in 2010, and Jonathan Bernier in 2007 before him. Askarov earned that acclaim with a dazzling start to his pro career, posting a .920 save percentage in 18 VHL games during his draft season. He carried that strong play through the next two seasons, but opted to move to America in 2022-23 after struggling to earn a spot on the KHL roster. He immediately earned the AHL starting role and posted a .911 through 48 games as a rookie – stout numbers for a goaltender adjusting to a smaller rink. Askarov matched that save percentage in 44 games this past season, and even managed 64 saves on 70 shots (a .914 save percentage) through his first three NHL games.
Trotz acknowledged that Askarov has developed into a special talent, telling Russo, “Asky is going to be an excellent goaltender because he’s got unbelievable athletic skills and he’s got a very confident personality — all that.” He continued by acknowledging the steep mental fortitude needed to succeed at the NHL level, stating that Askarov – still just 22 years old – isn’t there just yet. Trotz cited his partnership with goalie coach Mitch Korn – formed over their 15 years coaching together in Nashville – as a key piece of his decision-making. Korn was reportedly prepared to work intimately with Askarov this season, should he have made the NHL out of camp, with an emphasis on building him into a starting goalie.
But the star Russian instead opted to find opportunity where it lay, and is now a favorite to take the reins of a Sharks team that bombarded their goaltenders last season. And as difficult of a decision as it was to let Askarov go, Trotz isn’t worried about Nashville’s long-term success. He shared that expectations are high after the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei this summer – but refrained from jinxing the team too much, adding, “It’s fantasy hockey until we become a good team… right now we’re just excited that Saros will be here for a long time to come.”
The Predators will move forward with Saros maintaining his lion’s share of the team’s starts, while Scott Wedgewood, Magnus Chrona, and Matthew Murray all compete in a now-open competition to be the team’s backup.
Prospect Notes: Skinner, Morello, Armstrong
Former pro Brett Skinner has stepped into the role of general manager for the USHL’s Fargo Force, succeeding Cary Eades, who has held the position since 2015. Eades will stay as Fargo’s assistant general manager, while Skinner will continue his duties as Fargo’s head coach.
Eades has a storied career through USA Hockey, serving in various coaching and managerial roles across Minnesota high school, college, and the USHL. He’s spent 15 years with the University of North Dakota, 11 years at Warroad High School, and now nine years with Fargo. He’ll pass the torch to Skinner, who’s found his groove as a coach after a pro career that took him through 12 different pro leagues and spanned 410 career AHL games and one Calder Cup Championship. His championship tendencies followed into his coaching career, with Skinner winning the 2018 USHL championship as an assistant coach with Sioux Falls, then winning the 2023 NAHL championship and 2024 USHL championship as a head coach. He’s proven successful thus far and will now take on even more responsibilities for a Fargo team coming off a 50-10-2 performance last season.
Other notes from around the prospect world:
- Boston Bruins prospect Jonathan Morello has de-committed from Clarkson University just ahead of the start of the school year and will instead join the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints for the 2024-25 season, the team’s training camp roster confirms. Morello spent the last two seasons with the St. Michael’s Buzzers of the OJHL, posting 97 points in 101 games. That was enough to earn him the 154th-overall selection in the 2024 Draft – and Morello will now look to climb the ranks of Boston’s depth chart with a step up in the juniors hockey world.
- The Nashville Predators have signed left-winger Easton Armstrong to an amateur try-out and included him on their rookie showcase roster. Armstrong is one of six right-handed wingers on the roster. He’s coming off a long career in the WHL, spanning five seasons and 210 games. He scored 60 goals and 99 points across those appearances, finding a promising edge as a power forward thanks to his six-foot-three, 205-pound frame. Armstrong is an unrestricted free agent after going undrafted through the 2022, 2023, and 2024 draft classes.
Predators Hire Matt Donovan In AHL Assistant Role
The Predators have hired former NHLer Matt Donovan as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, per a press release from the team.
Donovan, 34, played parts of four seasons in the NHL, wrapping it up with a two-game stint in Nashville in 2018-19. Most of his career was spent in the AHL, where he suited up for the Admirals in 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The move confirms Donovan’s retirement from playing, but the left-shot defenseman was a capable offensive force up until the end. He spent last year on an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves, serving as an alternate captain and leading their blue line in scoring with 39 assists and 43 points in 69 games. A 2008 fourth-round pick of the Islanders, where he played 67 of his 69 career NHL games, Donovan also spent a year in the Sabres organization and logged time overseas with Sweden’s Frölunda HC, HV71 and Germany’s Adler Mannheim.
Donovan’s hiring continues a distinct trend in Nashville, where former players are hired for coaching roles. The team also brought in Darby Hendrickson, who logged over 500 NHL appearances over a 10-year career, as an assistant for the NHL bench earlier this summer. In 2023, they hired former Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie as an NHL assistant with over 600 games of NHL experience.
Predators Won’t Immediately Spend Money Freed Up By Ryan Johansen’s Contract Termination
One of the byproducts of Philadelphia’s termination of Ryan Johansen’s contract earlier this week was that it wasn’t just the Flyers that gained cap space but also the Predators. When Nashville moved the center to Colorado last offseason, they retained $4MM of his $8MM salary in the process and the termination takes that money off the books.
Speaking with 102.5 The Game (audio link) following the Yaroslav Askarov trade, GM Barry Trotz was asked about the freed-up money. However, don’t expect that to be spent any time soon:
I have to treat it as if it’s in escrow. I have to act like it’s not there until the final decision is made.
The final decision that Trotz references is the grievance that has already been filed on Johansen’s behalf. It has been his camp’s contention that Johansen’s nagging hip injury means that he is too injured to play. That injury came to light following his trade to Philadelphia and subsequent waiver clearance. An injured player cannot be bought out of his contract so the window came and went without that happening.
However, the Flyers opted to terminate Johansen’s deal based on a material breach, declining to go into specifics about what the breach was though some have speculated it could be related to the timing of the reporting of the injury. For the time being, that cleared $4MM off their books and Nashville’s.
But knowing that a grievance is coming, electing not to quickly spend those savings is the prudent move for Trotz. If the full contract is restored, then they won’t be put in a spot where they have to quickly clear money out to get back to cap compliance. Meanwhile, if there’s a settlement or only part of the contract is reinstated following the hearing, the Preds will then have ample in-season flexibility to add closer to the trade deadline.
As things stand, the Predators have a little under $3.1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and that’s with Johansen’s deal viewed as being on their books which is how Trotz has said he plans to operate. A good chunk of that will go to RFAs Philip Tomasino and Juuso Parssinen so until they get a final resolution on Johansen’s situation (which will likely take a while), they likely won’t have any other moves of significance coming after what has been an already very busy summer.
Trotz: Plan Is For Edstrom To Play In Milwaukee
- New Predators prospect David Edstrom spent last season on loan to SHL Frolunda after signing his entry-level deal with Vegas. However, it doesn’t appear as if that will be the case this time around. In an interview with 102.5 The Game (audio link), Nashville GM Barry Trotz indicated that he envisions his new center playing big minutes with AHL Milwaukee. Since Edstrom wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, he is AHL-eligible despite being just 19. He played in 44 games in Sweden last season, picking up 19 points and should be counted on to produce a bit more than that in his first taste of action in North America.
San Jose Sharks Acquire, Extend Yaroslav Askarov
The Nashville Predators’ number one goaltending prospect seems to have gotten his wish for a move outside of the Predators organization as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the San Jose Sharks are close to acquiring Yaroslav Askarov. According to a press release from Nashville, the Sharks will acquire Askarov, forward Nolan Burke, and Colorado’s third-round pick of the 2025 NHL Draft while sending away forward David Edstrom, goalie Magnus Chrona, and Vegas’ first-round pick in 2025.
It’s a major get for a rebuilding Sharks organization that was missing a true impact talent between the pipes. Over the past few years, San Jose has built up a nice young core of Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Sam Dickinson, Filip Bystedt, and Shakir Mukhamadullin but has since failed to procure a long-term goaltender. With Askarov now in the fold, the Sharks have a 22-year-old goalie who has done nothing but dominate in the American Hockey League over the last two years.
With his entry-level contract set to expire at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, the Sharks moved quickly on an extension for Askarov with his agent Dan Milstein announcing a two-year deal for the young goaltender. Shortly thereafter PuckPedia relayed that Askarov will earn a $1.7MM salary with a $200K signing bonus in 2025-26 and a $2.1MM salary in 2026-27 with an AAV of $2M.
Askarov’s rise to stardom didn’t happen overnight. He was ranked as the highest available European goaltender in the 2020 NHL Draft leading to him being the first one taken off the board with the 11th overall pick by the Predators. In his draft year, Askarov suited up in 18 games for the VHL’s SKA-Neva St. Petersburg where he produced a 12-3-3 record along with a .920 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average.
The young Russian netminder spent a few more years playing in Russia’s junior league before signing his entry-level contract with Nashville in 2022 and joining the organization for the 2022-23 season. In his rookie season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, Askarov put up a 26-16-5 record in 48 contests coupled with a .911 SV% and 2.69 GAA which immediately put him on the map as a legitimate high-end goaltending prospect.
Askarov gave the Predators a decision to make. Over nearly the last two decades, Nashville has had the privilege of high-end goaltending with the organization seamlessly transferring from Pekka Rinne to Juuse Saros. The Predators quickly began receiving trade calls for both Askarov and Saros before signing Saros to an eight-year extension earlier this summer.
Despite the trade chatter, Askarov dominated in the AHL once again this past season with a 30-13-1 record in 44 games with a duplicated save percentage. Despite another year of solid play between the pipes, the Predators signed goalie Scott Wedgewood to serve as Saros’ backup next year, leading to Askarov requesting a trade from the organization.
He may not get the starting minutes right away with the Sharks as the team already deploys Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek as their current options. Given the current competitive status of the team, however, Askarov will have every opportunity to earn the starting minutes down the stretch and could even be the Sharks undisputed starter by season’s end.
Heading back to Nashville is a nearly identical package that the Sharks received for forward Tomas Hertl at this past year’s trade deadline. Edstrom was originally drafted with the 32nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights and has been working his way through the SHL with Frölunda HC on loan. The young two-way center brings solid awareness to both sides of the puck and should be a decent middle-six option for the Predators down the road.
Chrona will likely be deployed as a serviceable third-string goaltender for Nashville with a majority of his starts coming with the team’s AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. The University of Denver alum helped the Pioneers to their ninth National Championship in program history during the 2022 Frozen Four tournament. He finished his senior year with a 22-9-0 record in 31 games. Chrona signed with the Sharks as a collegiate free agent and made his debut with the team last year toward the end of the season where he collected one win in nine games on the heels of a .859 SV%.
The first-round pick, also acquired by San Jose in the Hertl trade, will be top-10 protected according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. If the draft choice were to fall in the top 10 of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Sharks would have the option of sending their pick or Vegas’ to Nashville.
Although Edstrom has decent upside as a forward prospect, he may not necessarily have the prospect pedigree that Nashville was originally looking for in exchange for Askarov to start the summer. However, the team still got much better in free agency with the acquisitions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei and now have three first-round picks for the 2025 NHL Draft.
Poll: Which Team Will Trade For Yaroslav Askarov?
The top goaltending prospect of the Nashville Predators, Yaroslav Askarov, made waves around the NHL a few days ago as he publicly requested a trade out of the Predators’ organization. Askarov and his agent assert that if he is not moved by the end of training camp and is sent down to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, he will not report.
Askarov has seen his name come up in trade chatter a few times over the last two summers, primarily at the NHL draft, with the Predators attempting to acquire a top-five selection. No general manager was willing to meet the asking price of general manager Barry Trotz, so Askarov stayed with the organization at the AHL level, where he put up monster performances. Now that Nashville has committed to Juuse Saros on the heels of an eight-year, $61.92MM extension and also signed Scott Wedgewood to serve as the team’s backup for the 2024-25 campaign, Askarov is looking for an opportunity elsewhere.
The most immediate team that comes to mind is the San Jose Sharks, who are rebuilding their organization from the ground up but have very little in the way of goaltending prospects. By acquiring Askarov from the Predators, San Jose could cut bait with Mackenzie Blackwood or Vitek Vanecek at any point during the regular season, assuming Askarov develops into a starting goaltender. A little over a week ago the assistant general manager of the Sharks, Joe Will, detailed that San Jose is still looking for a third-string goaltender on the younger side.
Another team in a similar position to the Sharks lies 2,000 miles inland in Chicago. The Blackhawks are only a year removed from selecting with the first overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft and are also looking to bring their organization back to contention. As much as Chicago would want to complete their prospect pool with Askarov, the Predators won’t be quick to help out a divisional rival. The Blackhawks would likely have to pay a higher premium than most teams if they hoped to acquire Askarov and may look for their goaltender of the future down the road.
Unlike San Jose and Chicago, one surprise candidate for Askarov may come from Sin City. The Vegas Golden Knights have always had a fair for the dramatics and with both of their netminders headed for unrestricted free agency next offseason, the Golden Knights may look for a cheaper option. As one of the more cap-strapped teams in the NHL, the aggressive addition of Askarov would give the Golden Knights a cost-controlled netminder for the next several years, with the team able to invest in other areas of the roster. Unfortunately, without a first-round pick until the 2027 NHL Draft, Vegas may not have the resources to acquire the young netminder.
Although Askarov publicly requested a trade out of Nashville, the team is in no rush to trade him. Since the Predators could theoretically hold onto him for the next several years, the public nature of the trade request should not hamper his trade value on the market. There will be several teams looking to poach Askarov from the Predators, but if recent history has taught us anything, Trotz will get his money’s worth in any trade.