By the end of the season, it was apparent that the Nashville Predators were going to be rebuilding or at the very least retooling. As of today, it is clear that the Preds are completely blowing up their roster and Ken Holland absolutely needs to jump on this opportunity.
For those who haven't been paying attention, over the past few days the Preds have sent out Ryan Johansen with half salary retained and now have bought out Matt Duchene. These are some big cap hits against the Preds but the message in Nashville is pretty clear; the team is shaking things up big. After the 8.5 million dollar Filip Forsberg the next most expensive forward on the Preds is Colton Sissons at 2.85 million.
Via CapFriendly the Preds have an estimated 24 million dollars in cap space. Like the Flyers, Coyotes, and other rebuilding teams, the Preds are now in the interesting position of being able to take on some bad salary in order to recoup some picks and prospects to build up once more.
For the Oilers, this means Saros.
Edmonton has a strong forward core, they have a pretty good defense with the potential to be great, the biggest question mark on the team is their goaltending. Stuart Skinner was great in the regular season but struggled in the post-season, that being said he is a rookie and no one should have expected him to jump in and be the guy.
On the other hand you have Jack Campbell, a signing that I liked at the time but did caution some risk. Instead almost from Day 1 this contract has looked awful and Campbell struggled through most of the season. Even when he had win streaks it was with sub .900%. In many cases we do see a Free Agent signed goalie struggle in his first year and resurge in the second year, look at what happened this season with Grubauer in Seattle. The hope would be that Campbell and Skinner can both improve and battle for the #1 spot.
The issue is that is a huge risk for a team who is in the window to win right now and may be closing fast. McDavid and Draisaitl need new contracts in the next couple seasons. The belief now is these players will stay with the organization but Holland and the organization also needs to show them they can win a Cup.
Back to Saros.
The Preds clearly are not in win now mode. They have one of the better goalies in the NHL signed for two more seasons at 5 million until he becomes a UFA. They also have a high end prospect goalie in Askarov who will need to start getting some games in.
This seems like a perfect match for Edmonton. Trade Campbell, a 1st round pick in 24 and a prospect or two (Bourgault would be the likely bet, maybe even Broberg) and bring in a legitimate true starting goalie that can be elite in the playoffs.
It's a piece that could truly push Edmonton over the edge and make them a true Cup threat. I don't like sacrificing that many futures but I would much rather see Edmonton win a Cup than hold onto some players that ultimately may not make a difference.
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If more wild moves happen today I will update this blog so stay tuned!