Nashville Predators: Top 3 players they need to trade
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.
Next. One Player Each Team Should Trade. dark
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.