The Nashville Predators claimed defenseman Andreas Englund off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings Monday, the team announced. Englund, 29, is a big, bruising defenseman who has struggled to establish himself as an NHL regular over the years. Despite featuring in all 82 regular season games for the Kings last season, Englund played only 11 for L.A. this year, with his most recent appearance coming on Jan. 11. By adding Englund from the waiver wire, the Predators now have six healthy defensemen on their roster; Adam Wilsby [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/predators-sign-adam-wilsby-to-2-year-contract] (upper-body) recently suffered another injury, and Jeremy Lauzon remains on injured reserve. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9lK5qXRycI[/embed] The 6-foot-4 Swede is now on his fifth NHL organization and fourth since the 2022-23 season, and with one year remaining on his contract at a $1 million cap hit, Englund will need to impress to avoid going on the move again. A 2014 second-round pick of Ottawa's, Englund has played 173 regular season games at the NHL level, scoring two goals, 16 assists, and 18 points while racking up 152 penalty minutes. Following Englund's addition to the roster, the Predators have approximately $20.3 million in cap space, with a projection of $32.38 million by the NHL trade deadline, per PuckPedia [https://puckpedia.com/team/nashville-predators]. According to the NHL Media site, Englund will wear No. 5 for the Predators. The Hockey News' Emma Lingan and Michael Augello discuss Elliotte Friedman's report that the Nashville Predators are treating Ryan O'Reilly as if he has trade protection in his contract ahead of the deadline. Visit The Hockey News Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/] team site to stay updated on the latest Predators news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/players/predators-hit-home-run-adam-wilsby-contract-extension], game day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/players], podcasts [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/podcasts], and more.
