Nashville Predators Are Open For Business & Moves Will Start Soon

Filip Forsberg & Ryan O'Reilly, Nashville Predators

After an embarrassing and disastrous 2024-25 season by the Nashville Predators and a poor start to this season, it appears as though the white towel has been thrown in. The Predators appear to be on the verge of starting to sell off pieces, and this early in the season so that there is a better chance at that number one overall pick and Gavin McKenna or Keaton Verhoeff.

Chris Johnston reported, "The Predators have made it known they're open for business. They are anxious to start selling soon."

Whenever a team goes into sell mode, it is exciting for fans and general managers around the league, wondering who their teams will be able to pick from the roster. Will it be big or small?

Big pieces that have been in trade rumors, whether easy to move or not, include Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, Jonathan Marchessault, Filip Forsberg, and Juuse Saros. In terms of the starting goalie, his value would be wasted if the Predators sell almost everything else. The return for him would be big for an eventual turnaround in a number of years if everything is torn down, especially given that Saros wins the Predators games, and they wouldn't necessarily want that.

I expect that anyone 23 years old or younger would just automatically be excluded from the selling that is going to happen in Nashville as the team needs a base to build on. That means players like Matthew Wood, Fedor Svechkov, Luke Evangelista, Zachary L'Heureux, Joakim Kemell, Reid Schaefer, Ozzy Weisblatt, and Tanner Molendyk should be hanging around and sooner rather than later, getting increased roles in the NHL.

Players like Michael Bunting, Nick Perbix, Nick Blankenburg, and Nic Hague (at a reduced cap hit) could be players teams target as cheaper options as well. The Predators are making the right decision because having all of these players hasn't translated to any success, so going the complete opposite way, rather than another re-tooling, is best to get better players for the future.