Nashville adds veteran depth forwards, a promising defensive prospect and a future draft pick in key transactions.
In February, it seemed almost inevitable that the Nashville Predators would be sellers at the March 8 trade deadline. Then they went on a tear, winning nine of 10 games, and everything changed.
"Our scouts were dialed in on what the plan was, and we've had to pivot on the plan a little bit," first-year general manager Barry Trotz said on Friday. "A couple of weeks ago, we were probably looking at being a seller. Then this team [sent a message] loud and clear, and I'm going to try to help them out. So, we had to balance being in a unique situation where we didn't want to hurt our future. We wanted to prop up our team and make it better for, hopefully, the playoffs.”
Trotz stayed away from bigger, more expensive names on the trade market like Jake Guentzel and Vladimir Tarasenko, but still managed to acquire talent at the deadline without sacrificing significant cap space or assets critical to the team's future.
"I tried to keep our word to our players," Trotz said. "If you show me what direction you want to go, then I would help that, but I'm not going to mortgage the future."
Below is an overview of all the moves made by the Predators at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline:
Received from ARI: Jason Zucker (F)
Traded to ARI: 2024 6th Round Pick (DAL)
Cap Hit: $5.3 million
Received from CHI: Anthony Beauvillier (F)
Traded to CHI: 2024 5th Round Pick
Cap Hit: $4.15 million
Received from COL: Jeremy Hanzel (D), 2025 3rd Round Pick
Traded to COL: Yakov Trenin (F), Graham Sward (D)
Cap Hit: $851,667 (Beginning 2024-25)
Received from PHI: Wade Allison (F)
Traded to PHI: Denis Gurianov (F)
Cap Hit: $785,000
Received from Waivers (LAK): Jaret Anderson-Dolan (F)
Cap Hit: $775,000
Signed Cole Smith (F): Two-Year, $2 Million
Signed Michael McCarron (F): Two-Year, $1.8 Million
Signed Tommy Novak (F): Three-Year, $10.5 Million
Signed Dante Fabbro (D): One-Year, $2.5 Million
Signed Mark Jankowski (F): Two-Year, $1.6 Million