The Nashville Predators' revamped roster has us wondering which of last season's departed players could fill the franchise with regret.
The Nashville Predators' revamped roster has us wondering which of last season's departed players could fill the franchise with regret.
Most teams in the NHL have a player they think of as one that got away - a player that was traded or not re-signed whose success with a different franchise fills the hockey heart with regret.
In Nashville this feeling could be called "the Eeli Tolvanen Syndrome". Predators fans watched in hockey horror as Nashville's 2017 first round 30th overall pick was placed on waivers and picked up by the Seattle Kraken. After plugging Tolvy into the lineup, the Finnish forward played 48 regular season games in which he scored 14 goals and 27 points. In Seattle's exciting playoff run, Tolvanen recorded three goals and eight points in 14 postseason games.
"He was hungry," Kraken coach Dave Hakstool said of Tolvanen when I asked about him during draft week. "He's got great sense, plays a two hundred foot game, can play against all the good players. He's willing to do anything."
Ouch.
There have been discussions about Nashville system and Tolvanen's opportunities ad nauseam, but one thing is for certain — Eeli Tolvanen was the one that got away in 2022-2023 for the Nashville Predators.
After a sell off at the trade deadline and big offseason moves, the odds for regret could be even higher this season as the team heads into a roster reset. The Predators moved Mattias Ekholm, Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot, and Mikael Granlund at the trade deadline and traded Ryan Johansen and bought out Matt Duchene in late June. Nashville seems content to look forward and focus on the development of young players like Cody Glass and Luke Evangelista, but could there be a veteran player fans will watch flourish with a new team? Here are the top three contenders for next season's "one that got away".
Ryan Johansen
Ryan Johansen had to finished last season like so many other Predators veterans — watching a young team compete as he dealt with injury. On February 21, Johansen was cut by a skate blade and underwent surgery to repair the damage. Johansen's recovery was on track for a return to skating and practice earlier this summer, but Predators fans will have to watch him take the ice in a Colorado Avalanche uniform when the season begins.
Johansen turned 31 just a few weeks ago, and Barry Trotz mentioned Johansen by name at the end of the season press conference as a player who needed to improve his speed if he wanted to compete with the younger players in Nashville's pipeline. Trotz didn't count Johansen out, but he did end up trading the center to Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche while retaining half of his salary for the next two seasons.
All indications are that Johansen will become the Avalanche's second line center and play with a loaded top six on a team that Bet MGM sees as a top Stanley Cup contender. Johansen will be hungry to get back out on the ice after missing the final seven weeks of the season, and he'll have a new coaching staff and teammates to impress. It would be the exact combination of bitter and sweet if Johansen hoists that Cup at the end of 2023-24.
Matt Duchene
On June 30, the Nashville Predators bought out Matt Duchene. This was a big move for new GM Barry Trotz who decided to spend nearly as much money paying Duchene not to play for the Predators than he would have to keep the 32-year-old on a roster that is turning a new chapter. The next day, Duchene signed with another Central Division team, the Dallas Stars.
Signing Duchene in 2019 was rumored to be a long time dream for David Poile who believed Duchene could be that dynamic, playmaking center the Predators hadn't quite gotten from Johansen. Duchene's early tenure with the Predators was rocky with the firing of Peter Laviolette and hiring of John Hynes in his first season followed by the COVID affected seasons. Fans got a glimpse of what Poile was hoping for in 2021-22 when Duchene broke the franchise's single season goal scoring record with 43 goals and 82 points. Duchene was especially productive on the power play where he led the team with 16 goals on the man advantage.
After that performance, 2022-23 was underwhelming. Duchene played 71 games but only recorded 22 goals and 56 points, and the Predators' power play went from 24.46% the previous season to a disappointing 17.6%. Duchene's freak injury on March 26 ended his season early, but there wasn't any long term damage and he was looking forward to coming back and playing with the energetic youth. Instead, he'll be wearing a green jersey and could be sharing ice time with another energetic young player, Wyatt Johnston, in Dallas.
The Stars are also a team expected to make another playoff run next season. If Duchene can recreate some of his 2021-22 magic with one of the top offenses in the league, Nashville may have serious buyout remorse.
Mattias Ekholm
Nashville has already had a taste of hockey without Ekholm after he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline. The Predators received defenseman Tyson Barrie as a part of the deal, and David Poile was counting on that move to add some offensive punch to the blue line. In his 24 games with the Predators, Barrie scored three goals and 12 points and helped lead a young team at the end of the season when so many other veterans were out with injuries. But will Barrie, Reid Schaefer and two draft picks make up for the loss of Ekholm in the lineup?
Ekholm was a fantastic second pair defenseman for Nashville, and he took that skill and some offensive punch to Edmonton. In his 21 games, he scored four goals and 14 points and recorded a career high 11.1 shooting percentage. Ekholm's play in Edmonton also had the enviable effect of bringing out the best in his new defensive partner Evan Bouchard. Bouchard scored 19 of his regular season points in 21 games with Ekholm and went on the log 17 points in 12 postseason games with his new partner.
Ekholm was a fourth round pick for the Predators in 2009 who continued to uphold the franchise's reputation for drafting defensive talent á la Josi, Weber, Ellis, Suter, Hamhuis. Barrie is a fine return for the Predators, but losing Ekholm as the team undergoes a new direction and massive roster changes may make October 17 the most bittersweet return of a former Predator from last season.
For now, all eyes are focused on the young players hoping to prove they can fill an important role in this roster reset and get the team back into consistent playoff contention, but it will be one of these three veterans that Nashville watches in the postseason while wondering "what if?".
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