The Nashville Predators have already made a noticeable shift under new GM Chris MacFarland, and the changes may not stop with Shane Wright.
Nashville landed Wright from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Matthew Wood, adding another young piece to a roster that has also taken in Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Mavrik Bourque, Nils Hoglander, and others as MacFarland keeps reshaping the group. The direction is clear: younger, faster, and built with more long-term flexibility in mind.
But according to Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Predators are still working through more possibilities. Speaking on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, Pagnotta said the team is not done evaluating its options as MacFarland continues to make changes.
Jason Strudwick asked Pagnotta how Nashville might balance the short term and the future with a team that was assembled a couple of years ago and still has not reached the level it hoped to hit.
“Yeah, and that’s another very interesting situation that Chris MacFarland has to kind of navigate here. You’ve got some good pieces, obviously, in (Filip) Forsberg, and (Juuse) Saros, and you have others that are locked in on term. But then you’ve got either short-term deals or pending UFA’s that you look at, and you go, those could bring back some decent assets, decent packages.
They’re listening on defence to some teams that have interest in a veteran piece, like Brady Skjei, who’s got some time left on his contract, some no-trade protection, a $7 million cap hit. Nic Hague’s name has popped up this week as well, with another year on his deal, and he’s only 27.
They want get a little bit younger, but it’s not just on the D core. They’re also looking up front as well.
And I think it’s still premature on the Ryan O’Reilly front. He’s on an expiring deal.
What are they going to do with him? Again, a lot of that is going to depend on how the season goes.
Because if they’re going to be in a playoff picture. I don’t think Chris MacFarland at all wants to potentially make a move that can be detrimental to their push for the postseason.
He’s always been one of the guys. I mean, pretty much every GM out there would want to amplify his team and reward his team by bringing in pieces to help push for that playoff spot and get to the postseason, and then you never know what happens.
But if they’re out of it later on this season, then you’re going to hear a little bit more about the defensemen and, with respect to a guy like Ryan O’Reilly, a couple other guys on pending deals, and even Jonathan Marchessault, who’s got some time left on his deal. But his performance, along with the team’s, will dictate whether or not they find some options for him as well.”
NHLRumors.com noted that Nashville has been getting younger and quicker down the middle under MacFarland, with the GM aiming to build a style similar to what he had with the Colorado Avalanche. The offensive side is still a work in progress, but the Predators are also trying to improve defensively even after adding Jayden Struble.
The note also raised the possibility of bigger names down the road, including Simon Edvinsson from Detroit or a more controllable piece like Alexander Nikishin.
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The timing matters because the Predators have started stacking wins against some of the leagues better teams, a stretch that has helped build real momentum in the room. Stamkos read is that the pieces are coming together at the right time, with the teams overall buy-in showing up in the areas that usually decide whether a good start turns into something more. [Read more 🡒]