Pearlo's House Of Bold Predictions. Montreal Canadiens second line center is?

With the Nashville Predators moving on from Luke Evangelista under new manager Chris MacFarland it would seem to me that the mandate is to move forward with a rebuild. MacFarland stated that the reason for the trade was that Nashville was flush with prospects on the wing and that the picks that they received in return would help them with other positional needs. Nashville does have some good wingers coming up but Evangalista is only 24 years old and was a huge contributor to Stamkos scoring 0ver 40 goals last year. This by no means seems like a win now move. The next prospect winger in line is 21 year old Matthew Wood, who I do like a lot, but he has yet to play top comp. in the NHL and is still a work in progress. W

With this in mind I contend that Nashville will be hard pressed to be in much of a playoff race this year and it must ring some alarm bells in the ears of the vets on this team. Especially that of Ryan O'Reilly who is now 35 years old and on the last year of his contract. Last year O'Reilly was gutted when Nashville missed the playoffs and put a lot of it on himself. Really though he was far from the problem. A lack of depth and young players still trying to find their way was far more the culprit and if Nashville struggles this year I think even he may concede that it may well be a good idea to move on for another cup shot with a different team. 

Enter the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has their own depth issues, especially at center but have been hesitant to pull the trigger on a deal with their premier prospect Michael Hage probably soon to finally arrive. It appears they do not have an appetite to block his way onto the line up. With O'Reilly though they would be getting an excellent shutdown center that produces very well defensively and has the experience to integrate into a lin up while basically being a rental unless he chooses to take short contracts with the understanding that Hage is right on at the door to take over. It would really be a perfect win now and possibly help out in a leadership role later type play. Montreal has some interesting young players that may entice Nashville such as RD David Reinbacher who is very close to being ready and offensive minded 20-year-old Bryce Pickford that had a stellar year for the Medicine Hat Tigers last year. 22-year-old center Oliver Kapanen scored 22 goals last year and would probably relish the ice time Nashville could offer. This seems like a perfect fit all around and it is one of my bold predictions for this year. 

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