Nashville Predators: Top 3 players they need to trade

NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 19: Kyle Turris #8 celebrates his game tying goal with Craig Smith #15, Mikael Granlund #64 and Nick Bonino #13 of the Nashville Predators against the Florida Panthers at Bridgestone Arena on October 19, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 19: Kyle Turris #8 celebrates his game tying goal with Craig Smith #15, Mikael Granlund #64 and Nick Bonino #13 of the Nashville Predators against the Florida Panthers at Bridgestone Arena on October 19, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)
4 of 4
nashville predators
Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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.

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.