Report: Nashville Predators still open to trading Stamkos, Marchessault
Despite the team's recent success, reports have surfaced stating the Nashville Predators are still open for business, and are willing to part ways with veterans Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
Both players signed a couple of summers ago in Nashville, and frankly, the team has underperformed, and GM Barry Trotz is open to getting creative to make changes. Both Stamkos and Marchessault have full no-move clauses and have to approve their next team.
The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta was a guest on Daily Faceoff Live, and shared the latest on trade talks coming out of Nashville:
With how well he’s playing. It’s a bit more salivating for teams that are trying to get him out of Nashville. There has been interest, and they’ve explored that with the Predators. Every team, to my understanding, that has had interest in Stamkos, to varying degrees, has wanted Nashville to retain and or at least is curious as to how much the Predators are willing to retain, and they haven’t been.
That was the message a couple of months ago; it’s the same message now: Nashville says that if you want us to really retain that $8 million AAV, you’ve got to pay up quite significantly to do it. So the appetite is not necessarily there to a full degree, but maybe they can. Maybe a team can convince the Predators to lower that cap hit if they give enough to incentivize them to do so.
He’s been rolling, and the Predators have done better. This is a team that still understands where they’re at and is open to that possibility of not just him, but also Jonathan Marchessault, so I think both of those guys are willing to go to top-tier contenders. It just depends on the environment. So they’re open to it, but they haven’t given a list or anything like that.
Stamkos is signed through the 2027-28 season at $8 million AAV, meanwhile, Marchessault is inked until the 2029 season at $5.5 million AAV. Stamkos has scored 18 goals and 28 points in 41 games, and Marchessault has recorded just seven goals and 10 points in 28 games.
Nashville enters the week with a 19-18-4 record, sitting one point out of the wild-card positions. There's been rumors about a Ryan O'Reilly trade, however the player has told the team he doesn't want to be dealt and would appreciate staying in Nashville.
Photo credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
