CapFriendly [https://www.capfriendly.com/] may have ceased to exist this morning, but the Nashville Predators' salary cap woes have not. The Predators have been the talk of the NHL ever since general manager Barry Trotz went on a spending spree when free agency opened July 1, but committing $111.5 million to four players has its drawbacks. After agreeing to terms with Steven Stamkos ($8 million AAV), Jonathan Marchessault ($5.5 million AAV), Brady Skjei ($7 million AAV), and Scott Wedgewood ($1.5 million AAV), plus extending defenseman Alexandre Carrier ($3.75 million AAV), the Predators have no cap space left for the 2024-25 season. Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz speaks to the media following a busy first day of free agency on July 1, 2024. In fact, they are currently over the cap by nearly $180,000. This is only permissible during the offseason, when teams can be up to 10% over the cap before the season begins. In order to be cap compliant by October, the Predators will have to subtract at least one player from their NHL roster. Trotz said on July 1 that he would be looking to move "at least one guy." Perhaps the most obvious candidates are forward Cody Glass and defenseman Dante Fabbro, both of whom spent considerable time as healthy scratches in 2023-24 and carry a cap hit of $2.5 million for next season. "I'm going to make a move or two to create a little more separation," Trotz said. "We have a lot of organization depth and some entry-level guys that are young we can use instead." Among the "entry-level guys" in question are forwards Philip Tomasino and Juuso Pärssinen and defensemen Spencer Stastney and Marc Del Gaizo, all of whom received qualifying offers from the Predators as restricted free agents this offseason. Exactly how the Predators will take advantage of their organizational depth next season is still to be determined, but one thing is certain: someone on the roster is getting waived or traded before the end of the summer.
