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Tyson Barrie Announces Retirement

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Amid his participation in yesterday’s Avalanche alumni game, defenseman Tyson Barrie confirmed to Nathan Rudolph of the DNVR Avalanche podcast that he’s retired.

A third-round pick of the Avalanche in 2009, Barrie was a highly intriguing offensive option out of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and quickly looked like he could be something of a steal. He led the league in assists by a defenseman in his post-draft year and was named the WHL’s top defenseman as a result, but concerns about the righty’s size and defensive acumen meant he returned for a fourth and final season of junior hockey before making the jump to the pro ranks in 2011-12. Even then, he spent most of that year in the minors and only received 10 NHL games.

He slowly worked his way up the Avs’ depth chart, seeing less and less AHL time each season before earning his final recall in November 2013, early in his age-22 season. While he checked in as a fringe top-four option at even strength, he overtook Erik Johnson as Colorado’s top power-play quarterback and ended up recording a 13-25–38 scoring line in 64 games over the balance of the campaign. Those 0.59 points per game placed him inside the top-15 among NHL rearguards that year.

The 2014-15 campaign marked Barrie’s true coming of age. He broke the 50-point plateau – the first of four times he’d end up doing so in his career – while serving as Colorado’s de facto No. 1 option for a good portion of the season with Johnson injured. He would continue averaging north of 21 minutes per game for the remainder of his Colorado tenure, twice earning fringe votes for year-end All-Star honors.

Colorado didn’t have a ton of team success during Barrie’s six-year run as a full-timer there, though, only making the playoffs three times and winning a round once. His struggles away from the puck played a significant role in that. Only once, his final season in Denver, did Barrie manage to record a positive expected rating based on shot quality generated and allowed when he was on the ice at even strength. He posted a negative actual plus/minus rating in his last four years for Colorado, including a league-worst -34 mark in the Avs’ disastrous 22-win season in 2016-17.

Entering the 2019-20 season, Barrie was a pending unrestricted free agent and had been made redundant with Cale Makar’s emergence in the preceding postseason. That kicked off the latter journeyman phase of his career, beginning with a July 1 blockbuster that sent him to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Nazem Kadri. It didn’t work out all that well for Barrie or Toronto. He was no longer his club’s top power play option, sitting behind Morgan Rielly on the Leafs’ power play pyramid, and his offensive output declined to a more pedestrian 5-34–39 scoring line in 70 games as a result.

With Barrie’s point production his only real calling card, the fit in Toronto obviously wasn’t going to be a long-term one. They let him become a free agent during the COVID-laced 2020 offseason, and he proceeded to land a one-year, $3.75MM “prove-it” deal with the Oilers.

Barrie was plopped onto a top power-play unit in Edmonton with the two-headed monster of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid – the league’s two leading scorers in the shortened 2021 season – and responded with the best campaign of his career. He recorded 48 points in the truncated 56-game schedule, leading the NHL in scoring among defenders. His defensive deficiencies remained quite visible, though. He only managed a +5 rating compared to regular partner Darnell Nurse’s +27 mark, and as Edmonton was swept in the first round of the playoffs, Barrie became the first defenseman in league history to lead the position in scoring while not receiving a single Norris Trophy vote.

While Barrie remained a fine puck-mover for the Oilers, his production never quite found that gear again. His minutes began to drop back below the 20-minute mark, and at the 2023 deadline, he was sent to the Predators in the deal that landed Edmonton two-way dynamo Mattias Ekholm.

Nashville marked the last real turning point in Barrie’s career, and it wasn’t for the better. While he was still quite effective for the Preds down the stretch after the trade, recording 12 points in 24 games, that didn’t last very long. In 2023-24 – the final year of a three-year, $13.5MM extension he signed with Edmonton – Barrie tumbled down Nashville’s depth chart and ended up becoming a routine healthy scratch by the time the season ended. As such, he was limited to just one goal and 15 points in 41 games and only drew into the Preds’ playoff lineup once in their first-round loss to the Canucks.

Ahead of his age-33 season and with his value at an all-time low, Barrie ended up needing to settle for a professional tryout with the Flames to participate in an NHL training camp last fall. He did convert that into a $1.25MM contract in early October, but the fit wasn’t quite what Calgary hoped for. He only logged 13 appearances for the club and even ended up on waivers and cleared, seeing his first AHL action in over a decade with the Calgary Wranglers.

Barrie was a free agent this summer, and there was no reported interest in him on the open market. He hangs up his skates with 822 games played in 14 seasons, 23rd among his rather stacked draft class. He scored 110 goals and added 398 assists for 508 points, 10th in the league among defensemen since he debuted back in the 2011-12 season. He averaged just over 21 minutes per night for his career and made $47.85MM in estimated total earnings, per PuckPedia.

All of us at PHR congratulate Barrie on his fine career and wish him the best in his next steps.

Image courtesy of Sergei Belski-Imagn Images.

Predators Sign First-Round Pick Brady Martin

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The Predators announced Wednesday that they’ve signed first-round pick Brady Martin. The fifth-overall pick receives his preset three-year entry-level deal, although salary and bonus terms weren’t disclosed.

A center out of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, Martin was the fourth forward off the board in June after defenseman Matthew Schaefer went first overall to the Islanders. The Predators were picking in the top five for the first time in over a decade, making Martin their highest-drafted player since Seth Jones went fourth in 2013. The organization hadn’t selected a forward in the top five since selecting David Legwand, their first draft pick in franchise history, second overall in 1998.

Martin is coming off his second season of high-level junior hockey and one of the draft’s biggest risers throughout 2024-25. After recording a 10-18–28 scoring line for the Greyhounds in his pre-draft season, he entered the year as a top-32 honorable mention in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s rankings but had risen to No. 26 on Wheeler’s board by the time November came around. He climbed up to No. 20 in February and No. 17 in March before a tear to end the season had him 10th on Wheeler’s board entering the draft.

His stock undoubtedly saw a boost on the back of Panthers center Sam Bennett’s playoff success – a solid long-term comparable for Martin’s heavy-hitting, two-way, physical game. While the 6’0″ pivot may not have the offensive ceiling of some forwards taken after him, he did hold his own with 33 goals and 72 points in 57 games for the Greyhounds last year to finish second on the team in scoring. He finished off the year with 11 points and a tournament-high +15 rating in seven games for Canada at the under-18 World Juniors, winning a gold medal and getting named to the tournament All-Star Team.

“He’s not just a worker type with secondary skill; there’s some play-driving and individual playmaking to his game as well,” Wheeler wrote in his final report. “He’s going to have a long career as a productive up-and-down-the-lineup center in the NHL and should be an excellent and unique middle-six C at minimum.”

Martin will likely be returning to Soo for 2025-26, but should be given an opportunity to earn at least a nine-game trial in training camp to avoid burning the first season of his contract. After that, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Martin seriously throw his hat in the ring for a second or third-line center role in Nashville for the 2026-27 season. Six of the top 13 picks from the 2024 draft – Macklin Celebrini, Artyom Levshunov, Ivan Demidov, Zayne Parekh, Zeev Buium, and Jett Luchanko – made their debuts last year.

Predators' Adam Wilsby Considered Leaving For SHL Last Summer

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  • A few weeks ago, reports emerged that Nashville Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney considered retiring last summer. Similarly, a new interview between Rasmus Kågstrom of Hockeysverige and defenseman Adam Wilsby indicates that the latter was considering a return to his native Sweden rather than continue his pursuit of an NHL role. As things turned out, Wilsby spent most of his time playing for the Predators last season and has a decent chance to make the team out of training camp this September. In the interview, Wilsby was quoted as saying, “Of course, I started thinking about where I would take the next step. At the same time, I felt like I wasn’t quite done with the US yet. I felt like it would either work out, or I would probably end up going to Europe. It’s great that it paid off.“

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Predators’ Spencer Stastney Considered Retirement Before 2024-25 Season

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Nashville Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney joined Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on the 32 Thoughts podcast to speak out about the challenges he’s faced with continuing his hockey career. Stastney opened up about a long struggle with mental health challenges and defeated feelings towards his hockey career. He shared that those feelings peaked at the end of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, and pushed him as far as job-searching and pulling together the paperwork needed to file for retirement. He was just 24 at the time.

Stastney hit that low point amidst some of the brightest moments of his young career. He moved to professional hockey in 2022, following a productive four years at the University of Notre Dame. Stastney stood out in his rookie AHL season thanks to his shutdown defense, even despite scoring just 19 points in 72 games on the full season. His early showings were enough to earn the first eight NHL games of his career, where Stastney chipped in his first two assists.

A strong start at the AHL level earned Stastney great standing headed into the 2023-24 season. He took full advantage of the opportunity – netting 20 points in 44 AHL games, and four points in 20 NHL games before the end of the regular season. But through it all, he shares that his feelings of anxiety towards the sport were growing. Stastney took part of the 2023-24 season off to attend the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. He returned in time for the postseason, and appeared in both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup Playoffs. But Stastney shares that by the time Milwaukee was defeated, he was happy that the season was over.

It was that feeling – relief juxtaposed by his teammates’ anguish over an early exit – that pushed Stastney to consider calling his career to an early close. He shared that he didn’t feel his feelings were fair to his teammates, and that he quickly felt that stepping away from the sport to pursue other work would provide the reset he needed. He moved forward with those feelings, even as his agency filed for contract arbitration and successfully earned a two-year contract extension.

But a new deal wasn’t going to be what spurred Stastney back into the sport. Instead, he details extensive consultations with the Nashville Predators’ team therapist as the thing that helped him to realize and address the roots of his feelings. Stastney skipped Nashville’s training camp for the 2024-25 season, and didn’t return to the ice until early December. He quickly returned to a top-pair role in Milwaukke when he came back, and earned an NHL call-up after just 10 games in the minor leagues. Stastney would effectively split the 2024-25 season between the major and minor rosters, netting three points in 23 NHL games and 17 points in 26 AHL games.

Those performances, and a renewed sense to continue moving forward with hockey, is where Stastney sits now. He emphasized that he’s still figuring out his relationship with the sport, but intends to move forward as a continued member of the Predators organization. He’s a true shutdown defender, with a great reach and imposing physical presence, even in a lanky build. The Predators have shown clear trust in Stastney’s ability to handle a depth NHL role – and a full season of determination could be all it takes to earn a full-time spot on the NHL roster.

While Stastney figures out his path forward, the Predators will rest assured that their patrol over player’s mental health continues to effectively serve their organization. The 32 Thoughts Podcast harkened back to former Predators Brian McGrattan and Jordin Tootoo, who both worked with Nashville’s therapy team and the NHLPA Player Assistance Program during their own time in the organization. Both went on to have successful, decade-long careers in pro hockey. Their ability to overcome challenges, and a clear focus on prioritizing player health, is a hardy show of resilience for any players facing similar challenges.

Milota Traded In The QMJHL

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  • Predators prospect Jakub Milota has been traded in the QMJHL as Cape Breton announced that they traded the netminder to Blainville-Boisbriand. The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick in 2024, going 99th overall and is coming off a decent season with the Eagles that saw him post a 3.22 GAA and a .903 SV% while also earning a late-season ATO with AHL Milwaukee.  The Preds have until June 1, 2026 to sign Milota so it’s safe to say 2025-26 will be a key season for him.

Predators’ Jack Ivankovic Commits To University Of Michigan

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5:00 p.m.: According to an announcement from the program, Ivankovic has officially committed to the University of Michigan. The expectation is that he’ll join the team as a true freshman for the 2025-26 campaign.

1:01 p.m.: The fifth-highest netminder drafted in the 2025 NHL Draft is expected to bring his talents to the Big Ten Conference for the 2025-26 season. According to Jeff Marek of the Daily Faceoff, goaltender Jack Ivankovic is expected to commit to the University of Michigan.

Ivankovic will join the Wolverines’ roster after a few successful years with the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. In two years with the team, Ivankovic managed a 39-17-9 record in 68 games with a .907 SV% and 2.93 GAA. Despite a strong performance in the OHL, Ivankovic’s draft stock declined slightly due to concerns about his size. He was selected by the Nashville Predators with the 58th overall pick.

The Mississauga, Ontario native has additionally had a brief international career with Team Canada. Last season, largely playing for Team Canada’s U18 team for the U18 IIHF World Junior Championships, collecting a 6-0-0 record in six games with an impressive .961 SV% and 1.05 GAA. In one tournament contest with the U20 team, Ivankovic suffered an overtime loss to Team Latvia.

It’ll be an entirely new goaltending tandem for the Wolverines during the 2025-26 campaign. The team’s starting netminder from last season, Logan Stein, has graduated, while the team’s backup, Cameron Korpi, has transferred to Union College for the 2025-26 season.

Interestingly enough, the only other netminder on Michigan’s roster is Julian Molinaro, also a Mississauga native, and a recent transfer from Northern Michigan University. There’s an expectation that Ivankovic’s commitment is for the 2026-27 season. Still, head coach Brandon Naurato may already be in contact with the Predators’ front office about Ivankovic beginning his college career sooner rather than later.

The Predators Are Banking On Internal Improvement

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The Nashville Predators “won” last summer’s free agency period, signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei to lucrative long-term contracts. The summer victory was short-lived, however, as the Predators struggled to start the season and never regained their footing, ultimately falling to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

The regular season exposed Nashville, revealing that it was a flawed team that was far from contending for the playoffs. Now, a year later, the Predators have taken a very conservative approach to their summer spending, and alas, they are still a flawed team that might struggle to score this season.

One of the most significant issues for Nashville, if not the biggest, is that its center depth is lacking, particularly in the scoring department. Stamkos is slated to be their top-line pivot, followed by Ryan O’Reilly.

While Stamkos is a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer and O’Reilly could sneak in, they weren’t exactly driving offense last year. Beyond the two of them, the scoring dries up further as the Predators’ options are currently Fedor Svechkov, who had an okay rookie season, as well as Erik Haula and Michael McCarron. No disrespect to Haula or McCarron, who are both decent defensive forwards, but they aren’t going to drive a line and won’t contribute much to Nashville’s offense.

Now, Nashville has a lot of young center depth in the pipeline, including the recently drafted Brady Martin, but those prospects are all a few years away and won’t help this upcoming season. The prospects will need playing time at some point soon, which has led some to speculate that the Predators might consider trading O’Reilly. However, general manager Barry Trotz remains pretty committed to the players he signed last summer and can’t exactly spring for a rebuild, yet.

The Predators’ murky center situation is a microcosm for the whole roster. As it is currently constructed, many of the players in the lineup will be playing outside of their ideal slot. Sure, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Juuse Saros, O’Reilly, and Marchessault are all slotted fine. Still, Michael Bunting, for example, is currently in the top six and is probably best suited as a top-nine forward.

Speaking of Bunting, much of his season will hinge on how he starts. Last season in Pittsburgh, Bunting had an atrocious start to the season, with just a single assist in his first six games, before he was a healthy scratch. Bunting would play another 52 games in Pittsburgh, tallying 14 goals and 14 assists before he was traded to the Predators. Upon joining Nashville, Bunting played in 18 games to close out the season, registering five goals and four assists. The 29-year-old is a bit of a wild card in Nashville since he doesn’t do all that much away from the puck, but when he is on, he is a capable scorer who can post 20 goals and 50 points.

Much of Nashville’s hopes are like the hopes they have for Bunting. They are banking on internal improvement, perhaps better overall chemistry, and better luck. It’s not the worst strategy in the world, and probably a better course than blowing up the roster or trying to trade a pile of futures for short-term help.

The Predators had a pile of players experiencing down years. Stamkos, Marchessault, Bunting, Skjei, Josi and Saros all had off years, and if even half of them were to bounce back, we are looking at a very different Nashville team next season. However, there is no guarantee that they will bounce back; given the age of some of the players named, they may even regress further. However, Nashville is constrained by high-priced contracts and can only hope for some positive regression.

As far as team chemistry, the Predators would hardly be the first team to spend a significant amount of money in the summer only to have negative results. It’s happened in every major sport, including hockey, with perhaps the best example being the New York Rangers of the early 2000s, who repeatedly outspent every team in the league but couldn’t even get a sniff of the playoffs. The more the Rangers added at that time, the more the team’s chemistry became disjointed, which eventually led to a massive selloff towards the end of the 2004 season and ultimately a reset. The Predators have avoided adding much to their lineup this offseason; however, they have tinkered around the edges with the additions of defensemen Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix.

Finally, as far as luck goes, Nashville didn’t have much of it last season, as evidenced by their PDO (shooting plus save percentages), which was dead last in the NHL at .970 (per MoneyPuck). Now, PDO alone doesn’t tell the whole story, but the top teams in the NHL typically have a PDO above 100, and the Predators were nowhere close to that. Much of that falls on the goaltender, Saros, who had the worst season of his career and will be looking to bounce back. If he can get back closer to his career average numbers, and the Predators’ offensive guys can get back to their career average shooting percentage, the Predators could make some moves in the Western Conference to try and climb back into the playoff conversation next season.

Photo by Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

Kieffer Bellows Signs One-Year Deal With SHL’s Brynas IF

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Former Nashville Predators winger Kieffer Bellows has decided to take his talents overseas after reaching unrestricted free agency this summer. He has signed a one-year contract with Brynas IF of Sweden’s SHL, per a press release on the team’s website. This will be Bellows’ first stint in European pros after spending the last seven seasons split between the NHL and AHL.

Bellows never found more than a fourth-line role at the top level, and often served more as an injury fill-in through his stints with the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Predators. That role often landed Bellows on the top-line of his club’s AHL roster, where his talents as a high-motor, physical scorer shined through much clearer. He recorded 19 points and a lofty 101 penalty minutes in 73 games of his rookie AHL season, all the way back in 2018-19. He swung the needle back towards scoring in his sophomore campaign – netting 22 goals, 31 points, and 49 penalty minutes in 52 AHL games during the 2019-20 season.

That swing earned Bellows a move to the NHL in 2020 – one that wouldn’t be reversed until the 2022-23 season. By then, he had amassed 95 career games and 28 points at the NHL level – with nearly half of both coming during his 2021-22 season with the Islanders, when Bellows potted 19 points in 45 games. But his game continued to seem better-suited for the minor flight, and Bellows went on to add to his resume with 90 points and 112 PIMs through 108 AHL games between 2022 and 2025. That includes 31 points and 56 PIMs with the Milwaukee Admirals this year – a performance that was intercut by Bellows also racking up four points in 19 games with the Predators.

On the heels of that surge back to AHL success, Bellows will now opt to move to Sweden. He joins a strong Brynas roster that finished first in the league, but lost to Lulea in the championship, last season. Bellows should take up the role of top-six grinder complimenting former NHL names like Jakob Silfverberg, Oskar Lindblom, and Johan Larsson. He’ll also join up with NHL prospects Michal Svrcek (Detroit), Lucas Pettersson (Anaheim), and Gustav Hillstrom (New Jersey).

Predators Sign Nick Perbix To Two-Year Deal

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The Predators are signing right-shot defenseman Nick Perbix to a two-year contract, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports. He’ll earn $2.75MM per season, according to Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff. The team has since confirmed the deal.

After acquiring Nicolas Hague from the Vegas Golden Knights yesterday, the Predators have now fully revamped their defensive core by adding Perbix. Offering more stability to their defensive core than their other internal candidates, Perbix is coming off a remarkably consistent three-year run with the Lightning.

Since debuting with the Bolts during the 2022-23 season, Perbix has scored 13 goals and 63 points in 220 career contests with a +27 rating, averaging 15:45 of ice time per night. For his metrics, Perbix offered a 51.2% CorsiFor% at even strength, and a 91.0% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Still, it’s interesting that the Predators have chosen to invest more capital into their defensive core, rather than their offense. The team has a few defensive metrics that could have warranted NHL playing time in the upcoming season, and it’s reasonable to assume that netminder Juuse Saros has a bounce-back campaign. Their offense was the bigger concern last season, averaging 2.59 GF/G, the second-lowest mark in the NHL.

Despite finishing 27th in goals against per game, the team’s performance was hindered largely by Saros’s disappointing season. Nashville had the seventh-best penalty kill and finished 16th in shots against. The addition of Perbix and Hague will certainly help the team keep pucks out of their net, but they will still struggle to address the offensive issues that plagued the Predators last season.

PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed significantly to this article. 

Predators Acquire, Extend Nicolas Hague

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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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