Nashville Predators Greatly Improve With Kyle Turris Addition

The Nashville Predators might have gotten the best player in the Matt Duchene blockbuster.

When history looks back on the three-way trade that saw Matt Duchene leave the Colorado Avalanche, the Nashville Predators may end up the biggest winners of the deal.

The Predators didn’t trade away or trade for Duchene. They simply helped him get out of Colorado and find his way to the Ottawa Senators. For Nashville’s assistance in the deal, they acquired Kyle Turris. All they had to give up was a 2018 second-round pick, along with prospects Samuel Girard and Vladislav Kamenev.

Although Duchene is the biggest name in the three-way deal, it’s actually Turris who may be the best overall player. In two of the past three seasons, Turris has finished with more points than Duchene. In the one season, Duchene had more points he also played 19 more games.

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Turris is an underrated two-way forward who proved in Ottawa he can hold his own centering any team’s top line. He showed he can be depended on as a proven playoff performer as he helped the Senators reach the Eastern Conference Finals last season. He’s also great on special teams as he can lead the penalty-kill unit or contribute on the team’s top power-play line.

What makes Turris even more dangerous in Nashville’s lineup is he no longer has to be the top center on the team. Ryan Johansen will likely continue as the Predators’ first-line center which actually suits Turris’ game even better. For the past few seasons Turris has been facing every opposition’s best defensemen and now he’ll be facing them far less often.

Turris should thrive in a second-line center role because he will no longer carry the offensive burden of top-line production. It also allows his two-way game to become more of a factor as he can kill more penalties or lead a shutdown line against the opposition’s top forwards.

The move also allows Nick Bonino to slide down from second-line center duties to the third line where he had success with the Pittsburgh Penguins the previous two seasons. Bonino is currently out of the lineup with a lower-body injury but once he returns the Predators will have three centers in Johansen, Turris, and Bonino who can match up with any team in the league.

Nashville proved in their run to the Stanley Cup Finals last year they already possess one of the best defensive lineups in the league. Adding significant depth and playoff experience at center will only boost the club’s chances of returning to the finals this season.

Signing Turris to an immediate contract extension with a cap hit of $6-million over the next six seasons also keeps Nashville’s core in place for the next few seasons. A core group filled with players in their mid-20’s featuring Turris, Johansen, Bonino, P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, Mattias Ekholm, Viktor Arvidsson, and Craig Smith, are all under contract through the 2019-20 season.

Turris could have likely made more than $6-million per year had he gone to free agency at the end of the season but chose the security of the long-term contract. This continues a trend from the Predators who continue to manage to sign players below market value. It also lessens the blow of trading away three future assets given Turris won’t just be a rental player.

It’s ironic in Nashville’s first season after Mike Fisher’s retirement the club once again looks to the Senators to acquire another quality two-way player. Turris will no doubt add significant leadership to his new team much like Fisher did upon his arrival.

Next: Grading the Matt Duchene Blockbuster

Turris is a better player than Fisher ever was but Fisher did become Nashville’s captain and an active member in the community. If Turris can have anywhere close to a similar impact on and off the ice then history might view the Predators as the ultimate winner of the three-way trade.