Predators "Won't Be Buyers" At Deadline
The Nashville Predators aren’t going to be buyers this year. That’s according to general manager David Poile, who joined Nashville radio this morning to explain his trade deadline plans.
The Predators sit fifth in the Central Division, and despite a 25-20-6 record, actually have a negative goal differential on the year. However, what they would sell isn’t clear, given the only pending UFAs on the roster are Mark Jankowski and Kevin Lankinen. Teams rarely target players with long-term contracts at the deadline, and the Predators have 10 of 23 roster spots inked through at least 2024-25.
Valtteri Pulli Drawing NHL Interest
Most of the news right now revolves around the NHL trade deadline, as media members try to find out where everyone will be playing when the dust settles. But yesterday, Jeff Marek squished in another interesting nugget during the 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet.
Valtteri Pulli, an undrafted Finnish defenseman, is drawing interest from several NHL clubs.
A number of teams that have shown interest but at varying degrees. I’ve heard of a couple different teams that are really hot on him, and a couple that just will kick tires. I’m having a hard time trying to figure out who is really aggressive and who is just curious.
It sounds like the teams with interest (and again to varying degrees) are the San Jose Sharks…the Winnipeg Jets, the Boston Bruins, the Vancouver Canucks, the Nashville Predators, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the New York Islanders.
Pulli, 21, is a 6’6″ left-shot defenseman who is in his first full season for TPS in the Finnish Liiga, and has three goals and 14 points in 47 games. While those numbers don’t sound too impressive, he has shown flashes of high offensive potential, as he learns to use his massive frame to protect the puck and get it to dangerous areas.
Of course, flashes of potential don’t get you NHL minutes, and Pulli is by no means a finished product. He’ll turn 22 next month, though, meaning teams will have lots of time to try and develop him into an impact player.
Since he turns 22 next month, Pulli will be limited to a two-year entry-level contract when he does sign.
Nashville Predators Recall Philip Tomasino
One of the most confusing things about the Nashville Predators season so far has been the absence of Philip Tomasino. The young forward played the entire season in the NHL last year and faired well, racking up 32 points in 76 games. This year he has that same total in the minor leagues through 38 games without a single appearance with the Predators.
Now, perhaps that is about to change. Tomasino has been recalled from the Milwaukee Admirals and will join the Predators ahead of their game tonight against the Arizona Coyotes.
The 21-year-old Tomasino is an interesting case of COVID-affected development. After being selected 24th overall in 2019, he returned to the OHL for his post-draft season with championship sights. After dominating with the Niagara IceDogs through the first half, but still losing nearly all of his games, Tomasino was sent to the Oshawa Generals for a playoff run. It would be just 26 games (and 43 points) before the season was shut down, ending his year early.
In 2020-21, the OHL never ran at all, meaning he was stuck playing in the AHL even as a teenager. For many prospects, that might be overwhelming, but Tomasino showed off his offensive upside by scoring 32 points in 29 games. That led to him making the NHL club last season and showing well despite limited minutes. While prospects taking a step back isn’t uncommon, it was always sort of puzzling why he hasn’t received a single call-up this season.
With Filip Forsberg now out with injury, this is a huge opportunity for Tomasino to show he doesn’t belong in the minor leagues anymore. This team has only two forwards over the 30-point mark on the season and one that could certainly use some offensive juice inserted into the lineup. Even when Forsberg is back, there’s a reasonable case for Tomasino to stay, should he prove he’s ready over the next little while.
Filip Forsberg Out Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury
- The Nashville Predators have announced that star forward Filip Forsberg is out with an upper-body injury. Per the team, his status is to be considered day-to-day. The loss of Forsberg, even for just a few games, is a significant one for the Predators as he is their leading scorer among forwards with 42 points in 50 games. This is a crucial stretch of their season, as they have games in hand on both the Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild, the two teams ahead of them for the Western Conference’s second Wild Card spot. If the Predators, who are just four points out of that spot, want to keep pushing for the playoffs they’ll have to hope that this absence is a minor one for Forsberg.
Zachary L'Heureux Indefinitely Suspended By QMJHL
- Nashville Predators 2021 first-round pick Zachary L’Heureux was indefinitely suspended by the QMJHL today. The Nashville Post’s Michael Gallagher reports that the incident in question saw L’Heureux allegedly poke a 16-year-old fan with his stick after his game against the Gatineau Olympiques. While these developments have no direct impact on the Predators’ chase of a playoff spot this season, what it could impact is their deadline possibilities. L’Heureux is one of the Predators’ top-ranked prospects and would have been one of their more valuable assets to be able to surrender in exchange for an impact NHL-er. With this indefinite suspension, it now seems highly unlikely that L’Heureux would figure in any deadline deal, meaning the team’s possibilities for who to acquire could change.
Poile: Hynes' Job Not In Jeopardy
Even though the Predators find themselves outside the playoff picture and have been one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league this season, don’t expect a coaching change for the stretch run. GM David Poile told Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean that John Hynes’ job is “absolutely not” in jeopardy and that he feels the coaching staff is doing a great job. Nashville had quite a few players have career years in 2021-22 but that hasn’t been the case through the first two-thirds of this season. They’ll need a few players to catch fire if they want to stay in the mix down the stretch; they sit four points out of both third place in the Central Division and the Western Wild Card race.
Nashville Predators Extend Tommy Novak
The Nashville Predators have signed another depth forward to an extension, inking Tommy Novak to a new one-year deal for next season. The contract comes with a salary of $800K, a nice reward for a player who has been in the organization for several years.
Novak, 25, was a third-round pick of the Predators back in 2015, but didn’t make his NHL debut until last season. This year, after lighting up the minor leagues (again), he was given a chance to play meaningful minutes and has scored four goals and 11 points in 20 games.
A contract like this doesn’t guarantee his spot in the lineup moving forward, but does serve as a bit of financial security for the depth forward. This will be his first one-way deal, and keeps him away from Group VI unrestricted free agency, which he would have qualified for this summer.
The Predators have now inked two depth pieces this week, after signing Cole Smith on Monday. These bargain-basement contracts will help them spend elsewhere on the roster, though they likely won’t have a huge impact on the scoreboard.
Given that he will be a UFA when this contract does expire, Novak will certainly be motivated to put up even bigger offensive numbers. Whether he’s given that opportunity remains to be seen.
Nashville Predators Extend Cole Smith
The Nashville Predators have decided to reward one of their depth forwards with a contract extension, signing Cole Smith to a one-year, $775K contract for the 2023-24 season. Smith was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Signed to a one-year, two-way contract for this season, Smith is a 27-year-old rookie at the NHL level. The undrafted forward never did much scoring during his time at the University of North Dakota but found a new level last year for the Milwaukee Admirals, racking up 21 goals and 41 points in 59 games.
This year, with Nashville, he has two goals and 11 points in 42 games while playing a physical, in-your-face style every night. His 112 hits and 43 penalty minutes trail only Tanner Jeannot among Predators forwards, despite playing fewer than 12 minutes a night.
Getting him to sign on again for the league minimum is certainly a win for Nashville, even if he isn’t going to light up the scoreboard much. Smith is a great bottom-six option that will allow the Predators to spend a little bit more money elsewhere.
Nashville Predators Recall Tommy Novak, Kevin Gravel
02/05/23: Both Gravel and Novak have been recalled from the AHL, in advance of the Predators’ return to the ice after the All-Star break. The move leaves the Predators with 22 out of 23 spots filled on their active roster.
01/27/23: With the Nashville Predators finished their pre-All-Star break schedule, they’ve sent a couple of bodies back to the minor leagues for the time being. Kevin Gravel and Tommy Novak, neither of whom need waivers at the moment, have been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.
Gravel only came up this week when Alexandre Carrier was ruled out, and will likely be right back with the NHL club following the break. The big defenseman played 11:12 last night, recording four shots on goal, two hits, and three blocks. With Carrier missing for at least a month, the Predators defensive depth will be tested, and even more responsibility placed on the top few names.
Novak, meanwhile has been a semi-regular this year, playing in 19 games for the Predators so far. His performance in those games has been excellent, racking up four goals and 11 points despite playing just over 11 minutes a game.
The 25-year-old forward has been an excellent offensive player in the minor leagues for the last few years, but only has 46 NHL appearances to his name. He’ll also qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer unless he plays in every single remaining game for the Predators this season.
He’ll be back next week when the Predators return to action.
Predators Unsure Of Deadline Plans
After making the playoffs a year ago, the Predators added a pair of key veterans in Ryan McDonagh and Nino Niederreiter in the hopes of trying to take another step forward. However, they’ve gone in the wrong direction and find themselves three points out of a playoff spot heading into tonight’s action. Speaking with Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean (subscription link), GM David Poile acknowledged that while he wants to do something, the lack of success in the playoffs gives him some pause so he’s not sure what his plan is yet leading into the trade deadline:
In the last few years we’ve been in the middle, been making the playoffs. But we have not been able to be successful in the playoffs, (which) causes me pause in terms of where the team is headed, where we should go. This next month before the trading deadline is critical to our thinking and in our planning.
We’ve been here for a few years, so I’d like to get out of that in some form or fashion. That means doing something. Does that mean buy more? Does that mean taking a step back? I don’t know the answer to that yet. That’s what we work on, think about every day.
If Nashville decides to sell, they don’t have much in the way of expiring contracts which is typically the currency at this time of the season; their most prominent pending UFA is goaltender Kevin Lankinen. Next up would be depth winger Cole Smith. Neither player is going to garner much of a return if any. Pending RFA defenseman Dante Fabbro has been a speculative trade candidate dating back to last season but he’s in the midst of a down year and is averaging just over 16 minutes per night; if they move him now, they’d be doing so at a low point in his value.
While they in theory could turn around and do a bigger selloff, Poile ruled out that course of action. Plus, this isn’t typically the right time to move out players with pricey contracts and long-term commitments.
Speaking of those commitments, with nearly $70MM on the books for next season already per CapFriendly, there’s not much room to add aside from rentals if Poile wanted to try to bolster his roster to make a late push at a playoff spot. That said, it’s fair to wonder if a non-playoff team should be adding rental players; that’s generally not a wise course of action to take.
If they sell, they don’t have much to work with in terms of typical trade deadline currency. If they buy, they’re going to be more or less limited to short-term rentals with no guarantee that they can get back into the mix. Either way, the Preds don’t appear to be in an ideal situation with the deadline now just five weeks away.