Evaluating the State of the Nashville Predators after a Quiet NHL Trade Deadline

The Nashville Predators did not enter the season expecting to be sellers at the NHL trade deadline. Fortunately for general manager Barry Trotz, however, it was a seller's market.

But the Predators were quiet at Friday's deadline, making just one move to send forward Mark Jankowski to the Carolina Hurricanes for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. They also made a pair of minor trades earlier in the week, as well as a couple of waiver pickups in forward Jakub Vrana from the Washington Capitals and defenseman Jordan Oesterle from the Boston Bruins. 

So, to summarize...

IN: Michael Bunting, Jakub Vrana, Jordan Oesterle, 2026 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 fifth-round pick

OUT: Gustav Nyquist, Luke Schenn, Tommy Novak, Mark Jankowski

Trotz described the moves as “sweeping the porch and getting set up for the next phase.” His most significant move of the week was trading Luke Schenn and Tommy Novak to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Michael Bunting and a fourth-round pick in 2026. Bunting, 29, is a high-energy, playmaking winger who brings what Trotz calls the “sandpaper” element that has been missing from Nashville’s lineup.

"We identified Bunting as a piece moving forward," Trotz said. "It may take us out of free agency, but we said we are going to need (him) here."

Above all, Trotz believes that the energy and physicality that Bunting brings to the forward position will provide an example to the younger players coming up from the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals of how they are expected to play.

"We've got guys that are going to come up from Milwaukee and start playing here," Trotz said. "We are going to surround them with these veteran guys."

The optics of the trade with Pittsburgh looked worse, however, on deadline day, when the Penguins flipped Schenn to the Winnipeg Jets for a second-round pick in 2026 and a fourth-round pick in 2027. Trotz, for his part, did not seem concerned that the Penguins got more Value out of Schenn than he did in the original deal.

"I moved him for a (fourth-round pick) with Pittsburgh, but if I were to trade Michael Bunting now, I think I would have gotten a second for him," he said. "So that's the same deal."

Other players on Nashville’s roster, including forwards Ryan O’Reilly, Michael McCarron and Colton Sissons, had been the subject of trade rumors leading up to the deadline, but Trotz felt that the offers he received didn’t match his perceived value for any of the players.

"Every player was in discussion at some point or another," Trotz said. "You take values on them, you set a value for what you would take. And if you don't get that value, you don't move the player."

The Predators are set to host the Chicago Blackhawks Saturday at 7 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena.