Nashville Predators
Why they make sense: It’s probably illegal to have so many great defensemen like the Nashville Predators do. But just imagine P.K. Subban and Erik Karlsson on the same team. Could any team handle so much joy and greatness? Let’s find out!
Also, keep in mind the Predators have to worry about extensions to Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi shortly. If they aren’t confident they can keep either, maybe the Preds go after Karlsson. Nashville at least expressed interest in him earlier in 2018.
Plausible trade: They can’t take on Bobby Ryan’s contract, so that hurts their cause. The Predators, do, however, have Ellis. He’ll be a free agent after the 2018-19 season. Ottawa wouldn’t have to pay him nearly as much as Karlsson and Ellis is still a pretty good defenseman (albeit he’s not the same caliber as Karlsson).
The Predators traded their 2018 first-round pick for Ryan Hartman, but they still have their 2019 first-rounder. So that checks out. Eeli Tolvanen would make the package complete, but the only way he’s getting traded is if Karlsson agrees to an extension as a part of the trade.
Why it won’t happen: This sounds way too good to be true. So it probably won’t happen. But that doesn’t mean you can’t secretly root for it to happen.