Vitali Pinchuk's Days With Predators Could Be Numbered

It was a big coup for outgoing Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz this past summer when he landed highly touted KHL star Vitali Pinchuk. The 24-year-old signed a one-year entry-level deal for $1.03 million with the Preds after a couple of sensational seasons in Russia. 

But the new regime in Nashville, headed up by new GM Chris MacFarland, hasn't necessarily had the same excitement about the Belarusian star, and he's been a healthy scratch seven times already this season, playing only five times in the 12 games he's been up with the big club.

Insider Elliotte Friedman suggested the Preds could be looking to move on from Pinchuk already. 

Vitali Pinchuk came to Tennessee with much fanfare, but it’s been a rough start, with one assist in five games. A quick change of scenery might be coming here.

Pinchuk won't be able to acclimatize to the NHL style of game sitting in the press box, so a trade would make sense. 

The undrafted young center spent the last five seasons with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL, though he's really broken through big-time in the last two years. He registered 25 goals in the 2024-25 season, and another 11 points in 11 playoff games. Last season, the 6'3", 200-pound center finished third in the KHL in scoring with 31 goals and placed sixth in points with 66. 

MacFarland's arrival in Nashville was marked by a number of other new additions, however, including the likes of the Mavrik Bourque, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Nils Hoglander and Alex Kerfoot. When camp opened, and ultimately the regular season, the logjam up front really put the squeeze on Pinchuk's ability to get in the lineup. 

Pinchuk could be on the move after 7 scratches in 12 games with Predators

In the five games he has suited up for the Preds, his ice time has gone from about 11 minutes per game for the first two contests he got into, but has dwindled to just four or five minutes in each of the last two games he's played. And that was a week ago; he's been scratched since then. 

"We don't really have a whole lot of time to wait for him," head coach Andrew Burnette said last week. "We all talked about how important the start is, and I don't think he's quite up to speed with the North American game and also where he fits in our lineup, but we're going to continue to work for him. You can see that he's got some offensive ability. We've got to get comfortable that he can play some minutes, not just come in and play a few shifts. So it's a little bit of a growing part with us and with him."

The Predators are packed into a tight grouping of four teams in the Central Division battling for third place behind the Minnesota Wild & Utah Mammoth.

We'll watch to see if there are any young, building teams that would like to give the big Belarusian some North American ice time.