The Nashville Predators would like to add an age appropriate center
In the latest edition of the Fourth Period’s Latest, Kate Pettersen asks Dave Pagnotta about what the Nashville Predators are looking to add, and Pagnotta said they are looking for an agreed appropriate second-line center.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Kate Pettersen: “Alright. Well, Dave, I’m here at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators are getting set to open a four-game home stand, and that starts with the New York Rangers. But they’ve been a team that we’ve talked about a lot recently, because we’ve heard Barry Trotz has been active on the phone, having conversations with other teams.
If you take a look at what they can do in terms of trade, as of today, they’ve got $7.45 million in cap space. What do you think Barry’s actively involved in, and what could he actually do with that amount of cap space?
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Dave Pagnotta: “Like it certainly gives them a lot of flexibility. They would love to and we’ve talked about this, since the beginning of the season, that they would like to address their 2C position. That still is unchanged. They would love to be able to bring in a second-line center to stabilize the top-six, but they don’t just want to bring in a rental. That’s not going to happen based on their positioning.
And they don’t just want to bring in somebody that’s 31-32 years old and is going to start getting towards the tail end of his career. They want to bring in somebody in the mid-20s, maybe in the earlier stage of mid-20s, that can be with this core and build with them for years to come. And that comes with a big price tag. And those types of deals are more likely to occur in the offseason than in the middle of the season.
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And the way they’re playing now currently is we’re doing this last in the Western Conference. Nobody’s selling any lifelines, no life preservers are coming Barry’s way. So he’s got to be creative and looking at what he has now, if they continue this trend, a guy like Gustav Nyquist will be on the block. He’s on an expiring contract. They’ll look to move him as a rental to another team, but Barry still wants to insulate the rest of this group with the right pieces.
He’s going to be looking at those moves, but also almost as much looking at bringing in some key pieces to fit the core.
NHLRumors.com Note: Looking for a second-line center. Most of the league is looking for a 2C. But if the Predators want a player that is age-appropriate and can fit with their core moving forward, then a guy like Dylan Cozens, whom the Predators have called the Buffalo Sabres about as Marco D’Amico reported for RG, is the perfect fit. But that will be a tough trade.
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