July 1 brought the usual free-agent chaos, but the threat of an offer sheet helped push one notable trade across the finish line. The Stars have sent forward Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to Nashville in exchange for Nashville’s 2027 second-round pick and Vegas’ 2028 third-rounder, with both teams confirming the deal.
For Bourque, the move comes after his strongest NHL season yet. The 24-year-old appeared in all 82 games in his second season and finished with 20 goals and 21 assists. Dallas had him on a one-year, $950K bridge contract, a short-term deal that gave the club flexibility last season while setting Bourque up for a much bigger payday next time around.
That payday was clearly becoming a problem for the Stars. Jason Robertson remains a major contract issue, and Dallas has been trying to either re-sign him or find a trade that makes sense.
Those efforts have not gone anywhere in recent days. Robertson is reportedly looking for more than $12MM per season on a long-term deal, and the Stars had only $9.2MM in cap room before this trade, according to PuckPedia.
Something had to give.
Instead of waiting around and risking an offer sheet, Dallas moved first. A second-round pick package could have been better than the compensation tied to an offer sheet in the $4.75MM range, which sits at the top end of the second-round pick threshold. The deal also clears Lyubushkin’s final contract year, opening another $3.25MM in cap space.
Nashville, meanwhile, continues to be busy under new GM Chris MacFarland, who has wasted little time reshaping the roster after arriving from Colorado. Bourque gives the Predators another source of secondary scoring, a real need for a team that finished 20th in goals scored last season.
He should have a path into the top six, though that could still depend on what else MacFarland has lined up. Contract talks between Bourque and Nashville are already underway, according to Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
Lyubushkin gives Nashville a more familiar kind of piece on the back end. The 32-year-old is expected to land on the third pair, where he has spent most of his career.
He played 53 games last season and posted one goal, eight assists, 90 blocked shots, and 68 hits. Across 486 NHL games with five different organizations, he has collected 70 points.
After the trade, Nashville has a little over $14MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with Bourque and defenseman Justin Barron still among its notable restricted free agents.
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 🡒]
Predators Make Another Forward Move As MacFarland Reshapes The Roster
The reshaping of Nashvilles forward group kept moving with the addition of center Alex Kerfoot on a two-year deal, another sign that new president of hockey operations Chris MacFarland is not wasting much time putting his stamp on the roster. Kerfoot arrives on a $3.5 million cap hit and adds another experienced option to a room that has already seen plenty of turnover this offseason.
Kerfoot is only the latest name to cycle through the Predators new-look forward group. Mavrik Bourque, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Adam Edstrom and Nils Hoglander have also come in through trades and signings, giving Nashville a very different mix up front as MacFarland continues to rebuild the depth chart around the edges. [Read more 🡒]