If there’s a deeper technique to Nashville Predators basic supervisor Barry Trotz’s 2024 free company plan than “simply signal all of the marquee gamers,” it’s “age be darned.”
A 12 months after signing expensive veterans like Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn, Trotz doubled down on the “previous” guys on Monday by a historic haul of franchise skills like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei on multi-year contracts.
Stamkos is an all-time NHL expertise, having received two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Marchessault is coming off a profession 12 months in targets and received the Conn Smythe Trophy after his former Vegas Golden Knights took residence the 2023 Stanley Cup. Skjei is ending a five-season stint with a Carolina Hurricanes staff that often contended for a Cup run.
The youngest of these gamers is Skjei at 30. Stamkos is 34, and Marchessault is 33. The franchise faces for Nashville forward of Monday’s windfall have been O’Reilly, Roman Josi (34), Filip Forsberg (29) and Juuse Saros (29).
It’s onerous to fathom the Predators can be on this place after an aggressive fireplace sale on the 2023 NHL commerce deadline, one which jettisoned a franchise pillar in Mattias Ekholm and helpful skills like Tanner Jeannot, Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin.
That expertise purge was former basic supervisor David Poile’s last likelihood to reshape the roster for a attainable rebuild, one that will clear the trail for younger prospects to enter the system and take their lumps on a staff that seemed nowhere close to Stanley Cup competition. Forsberg, Josi and Saros continued to play at a excessive stage, however a youth motion felt destined for Smashville.
Effectively, Trotz should’ve felt that any youth inflow was all for naught with out dependable elder statesmen, and he’s taken colossal measures to entrench the Predators in a fiercely win-now place.
To be blunt, you don’t exit and signal nice gamers on the again nines of their profession like Stamkos and Marchessault particularly with out clear aspirations to deliver residence Lord Stanley’s Cup. These should not strikes you make evenly, neither is reducing a participant like Matt Duchene outright final offseason that allowed him to signal with a division rival within the Dallas Stars.
Trotz, the previous Predators coach-turned-general supervisor, clearly desires to assemble a staff in his picture, one stuffed with high quality veterans with in depth Stanley Cup expertise to lastly deliver Nashville over the hump for a championship in brief order. Fairly than strip down the sheets and remake the mattress, Trotz is banking on a bunch of latest pillows making this a snug place to sleep.
It’s not that the Predators don’t have engaging younger expertise at their disposal. Luke Evangelista is a star within the making at ahead, netting 16 targets and 23 assists in his first full-time NHL season. Tommy Novak offers roughly the identical impression, as he’s coming off a pleasant 18-goal, 27-assist season for Nashville.
The staff has turned Jeremy Lauzon from a so-so defensive prospect to one of the crucial dependable hitters within the league, and Alexandre Provider has developed to be a really high quality depth defenseman for the group. Dante Fabbro continues to be working via his highs and lows on protection, however there’s untapped potential there, too.
Additionally think about the promising younger gamers within the Smashville pipeline, who embrace winger Philip Tomasino, defenseman Spencer Stastney, middle Juuso Pärssinen, winger Zachary L’Heureux, winger Joakim Kemell, defenseman Ryan Ufko and winger Fedor Svechkov, simply to call just a few. These guys might all be at the very least considerably near full-time NHL reps, with Tomasino, Pärssinen and Stastney already incomes some restricted taking part in expertise.
Trotz’s gamble is two-fold. He’s making an attempt to maximise the older star energy of his present roster with much more older star energy whereas laying the groundwork for a successful tradition below coach Andrew Brunette for younger gamers to enter as soon as it’s their time within the NHL.
For establishing a constant winner, that’s not a foul technique in any respect for any skilled sports activities staff with a farm system. For quick funding into successful the Stanley Cup proper now, have the Predators performed sufficient to cope with the very best groups within the NHL?
Fairly than banking every part on an Connor McDavid/Auston Matthews/Sam Reinhart/Nathan McKinnon-type generational expertise, the staff is hoping it might probably rating in bunches with confirmed veterans and overwhelm their opponents with elite goaltending and gobs of stingy expertise. Which will nicely assist Nashville make a deep playoff push within the seasons to come back, nevertheless it’s not assured to work out in addition to hoped.
Additionally think about that elite goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov might be traded at any minute for the reason that staff has Saros in his prime (with a brand new deal), and that would web Nashville an equally proficient prospect or a ready-now veteran.
It doesn’t matter what, this strategy continues to be a chance for Nashville, as Trotz is relying on the veterans to push onerous in opposition to Father Time whereas hoping the pipeline prospects can fill within the gaps within the subsequent couple of seasons the place want be.
Monday’s free company windfall places the Predators firmly within the dialog for essentially the most fascinating and enjoyable groups within the NHL going into this coming season. Including a generational expertise like Stamkos will do this by itself.
Will the hodgepodge of older stars and tantalizing youth spark Smashville to its first Stanley Cup, or has Trotz overplayed his hand on including so many older gamers on the downward slope to a staff that actually wanted to start out over and additional embrace its youthful gamers?
The one secure prediction is that that is going to be extremely enjoyable to observe play out.
