The Nashville Predators kept the roster churn moving Wednesday, adding another forward in Alex Kerfoot only hours after the NHL’s free agency window opened.
Kerfoot signed a two-year contract with the Predators that, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, carries a $3.5 million salary cap hit. The center arrives after a two-year run with the Utah Mammoth, where injuries limited him this past season to 13 points in 34 regular-season games.
The British Columbia native has had one clear peak in his NHL career, and it came with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021-22. That season was his only one above 50 points, built on 13 goals and 38 assists.
Kerfoot is the latest addition in what has been a busy day for Nashville and new president of hockey operations Chris MacFarland. Earlier Wednesday, the Predators worked out a trade with the Dallas Stars to land offer-sheet candidate Mavrik Bourque. They also made two deals with MacFarland’s former club, the Colorado Avalanche, to bring in centers Ross Colton and Jack Drury, with Drury later signing a long-term extension to remain in Nashville.
The Predators have also been active on the wing, trading for six-foot-seven Adam Edstrom from the New York Rangers and Nils Hoglander from the Vancouver Canucks.
Nashville came up just short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after recovering from a disastrous start, and with aging veterans on expensive contracts at the top of the roster, MacFarland has clearly spent Wednesday loading the team up with support around them.
In Other News...
MacFarland Just Made Another Predators Trade Fans Need To See
Chris MacFarland kept reshaping Nashvilles roster with another move aimed at adding both flexibility and stability. The latest deal brings in a young, versatile forward and a veteran defenseman, giving the Predators a little more balance at two spots where depth always matters, especially as the season stretches on and lineup decisions get tighter.
Mavrik Bourque arrives with the kind of skill set that can fit in more than one place, while Ilya Lyubushkin gives the blue line the kind of experience and physical edge contenders usually keep searching for. The bigger question now is how Nashville will sort out the ripple effects, because a move like this rarely comes without pushing someone else further down the chart. [Read more 🡒]
Stars Just Made A Mavrik Bourque Decision Fans Wont Like
The Predators have made another move aimed at adding offense, landing forward Mavrik Bourque in a deal with Dallas after he turned in the best NHL season of his young career. Nashville sent back a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-rounder as part of the package, a price that signals the club is still trying to thread the needle between helping now and keeping enough future assets in hand.
Bourque is expected to step into a top-six role and give Nashville a needed boost in secondary scoring, which has been a persistent issue for the roster. The trade also gives the Predators a little more breathing room under the salary cap, opening up a bit over $14 million, and it leaves one more question hanging over a team that is still reshaping itself. [Read more 🡒]