The Nashville Predators had already taken a sledgehammer to their roster this year, but Friday’s latest blow might’ve been the most shocking.
Rather than let him play out more of his expensive contract, the team placed center Matt Duchene on unconditional waivers with the intent to buy out the remainder of his deal.
The Predators will reportedly eat $19 million over the next six years for Duchene’s buyout, another sign of just how determined the team is to clean house and start fresh under new general manager (and former coach) Barry Trotz.
Duchene will enter NHL free agency as one of its most desirable prospects, and the Predators will have about $24 million to spend once the market opens on Saturday (fourth-best in the NHL).
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) June 30, 2023
Duchene is just the latest in Nashville’s roster purge, as the team traded Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche earlier this month.
Along with Johansen and Duchene, the Predators parted ways with guys like Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Tanner Jeannot ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline this past winter.
That’s not even mentioning the in-season waiving of Eeli Tolvanen, who landed (and blossomed) with the Seattle Kraken, or the firing of head coach John Hynes this summer for former Florida Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette.
It’s an eye-opening amount of players that have been jettisoned from Music City, as last year’s starting Nashville lineup is largely gone.
One more exercise: This was the Predators’ opening-night lineup last season. Players who are no longer with the team (excluding unsigned RFAs) are crossed out: pic.twitter.com/p1ubEPDiCh
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) June 30, 2023
Trotz will officially take over as general manager for the retiring David Poile on Saturday, and it looks increasingly like he’ll continue to rework Nashville’s roster in a major retooling.
The revamp has been so dramatic in Nashville that the team reportedly pondered trading elite goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov to move into the 2023 NHL Draft’s top few picks this week.
It genuinely feels like anything is possible for Nashville going ahead, making them one of the NHL’s most unpredictable teams this offseason.
Could the team keep Askarov and trade one of the NHL’s best goalies in Juuse Saros to land a top-six scoring option? Does the team have a veteran Tyson Barrie in its plans after acquiring him from the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline? What about another vet like Ryan McDonagh?
Only team captain Roman Josi and longtime offensive stalwart Filip Forsberg feel safe in terms of veteran players on Nashville’s roster.
With plenty more moves to come, Trotz looks like he’s going to shape the team in his image as he finds a way to get Nashville back to the Stanley Cup Finals. It’ll be fascinating to see if his aggressive strategy is exactly what the Predators need to really get back in contention, or if it’s a bridge too far.
