Nashville Predators: Top 3 players they need to trade
Unless the Nashville Predators can turn things around quickly, they’ll have to approach the trade deadline as sellers for the first time in a while. Which players should they trade?
The Nashville Predators came into the 2019-20 season as hopeful Stanley Cup contenders. After signing Matt Duchene in the offseason, many projected them to be the favorites to win the Central Division. However, after a strong start in October, things have gone south quickly for the Predators.
Since the start of November, the Predators have a .471% point percentage, which is the seventh-lowest mark in the NHL. After a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville sits six points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Though they have games in hand, it means nothing if they keep playing the way they’ve been playing lately, as they have a 4-5-1 record over their last 10 games.
According to NHL.com, things aren’t going to be easy for the Predators. They have the third-toughest remaining schedule. Moreover, the Predators will have just 17 of their last 33 games at home. That’s not promising.
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In order to get to 97 points (which should be enough to barely squeeze into the playoffs), the Predators are going to have to pick up 46 points in their last 33 games. With just 66 points left for them to get, that means they’ll have to put up a point percentage of .696% point percentage. The Predators will have to be at worst a top-five team in the NHL from here on out to have a realistic shot of making the playoffs.
All of this adds up to a team that everyone expected to be buyers at this point in the season becoming sellers. The Predators haven’t been sellers at the trade deadline since 2014, so this is largely unfamiliar territory for them.
If and when the Predators decide to start listening to offers for their players, three players stand out. Each of them are unrestricted free agents after this season, so trading them makes all of the sense in the world. Let’s take a look at who the Predators should trade at the deadline.
Rocco Grimaldi
Cap hit: $1 million
The Nashville Predators have found a diamond in the rough in Rocco Grimaldi. He’s been a very pleasant surprise for them over the past two seasons. Grimaldi has 36 points in his last 96 NHL games, which isn’t too shabby for a guy who doesn’t get too many minutes.
However, he’ll be a free agent after this season and it would make a ton of sense for the Predators to get something for him. Even if their intention is to re-sign him, they can revisit those discussions in the offseason.
With so many teams being close to the salary cap ceiling, Grimaldi is someone who could draw quite a bit of interest at the trade deadline. After all, he’s cheap and he’d be an upgrade to what a lot of teams have on their third and fourth lines.
Grimaldi is small, as he’s just 5’6″. However, he’s got a ton of skill and still plays a pretty gritty game despite being undersized. Grimaldi is good at avoiding unnecessary contact but still capable of winning board battles against players who are bigger than him.
Potential suitors: Grimaldi seems like someone who the Pittsburgh Penguins would value. However, I think they’re going after a far bigger fish than him. Then again, with all the injuries the Penguins are having, perhaps they’ll need to find a productive bottom-six forward by the deadline. Maybe a team like the Arizona Coyotes could use him to try to get some more production out of their bottom-six forwards?
Mikael Granlund
Cap hit: $5.75 million
The Nashville Predators are reportedly shopping Mikael Granlund around the league. They acquired him at the 2019 trade deadline in a one-for-one trade for Kevin Fiala. To say this trade hasn’t worked out for the Predators would be an understatement. Fiala has outproduced Granlund since the trade and the latter has never really been a good fit in Nashville.
Granlund’s certainly not helping his trade value with his struggles, as he only has 17 points in 42 games. That’s a long fall from his past, as he had three consecutive 50 point seasons from 2016-17 through 2018-19. Also, Granlund was just one point away from having six straight seasons with at least 40 points from 2013-14 through 2018-19.
One big change in his production has been on the power play. Granlund was a consistent producer on the man advantage with the Minnesota Wild, as he put up 70 PP points in 461 games in The State of Hockey. In Nashville, that’s fallen to four power play points in 58 games.
His cap hit isn’t going to make it easy to trade him, but if the Predators are willing to retain salary, he’d be far more attractive with a cap hit of under $3 million. There aren’t that many good rental forwards this season, so Granlund could be traded despite his pedestrian numbers. He’s not far removed from having a lot of success on the power play, so maybe teams will be interested in him and hope he can get back to producing.
Craig Smith
Cap hit: $4.25 million
Craig Smith is the Nashville Predators’ top trade chip. They likely won’t be able to squeeze a first-round pick out of him, but if he gets on a roll (much like Mats Zuccarello did last season), it wouldn’t surprise me if they got a conditional first-round pick.
There aren’t many top-six forwards available at this year’s deadline if you want a rental. And I think teams will prefer rentals since so many contenders are close to the salary cap ceiling. There’s Chris Kreider, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Tyler Toffoli. That’s about it. Once those guys get traded, Smith could get quite a bit of attention.
His lack of playoff production, however, is why I don’t think the Predators will get a first-round pick for him. Smith has consistently struggled in the playoffs, posting 16 points in 48 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. He’s been fairly consistent during the regular season though, with 320 points over 640 games. That’s about a 40 point pace or 0.50 points per game. From 2014-15 to 2019-20, Smith has been within 0.10 points per game of that in all but two seasons.
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Smith is a good, but not great, player. However, with the lack of quality rental forwards available, I think the Predators won’t have much trouble finding a taker for him.