For a second year in a row, the Nashville Predators are struggling mightily, and it’s time for Barry Trotz to admit that his free agent shopping spree in the 2024 offseason didn’t pan out. The experienced GM went out and added players like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, which, on paper, looked like good signings. That was after bringing in Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Luke Schenn the previous offseason. Still, the sauce didn’t take in the 2024-25 campaign, and it’s not this season either.

The Preds are currently 31st in the league, and it seems like it’s time for Trotz to bite the bullet and admit defeat. There are worse seasons to become a seller, though, considering Gavin McKenna will be up for grabs at the next draft. Given the expensive and lengthy contracts Trotz gave to aging players, it won’t be easy for the Preds to get out of their predicament.

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On Thursday night, two Predators scouts took in the game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals from the Bell Centre press gallery. With rumours swirling around about a few of the Preds’ players, this was an interesting development. TSN insider Pierre LeBrun recently revealed that, according to his sources, the Canadiens could be interested in Marchessault.

The soon-to-be 35-year-old winger is currently in the second year of a five-year contract that has a $5.5 million cap hit. Speaking to RDS after signing that deal with the Preds, Marchessault had said the Canadiens were interested in signing him but weren’t willing to give him a five-year deal. Even with their current injury predicament, I struggle to see how Kent Hughes could now believe it would be a sound decision to take on that contract. Furthermore, he has only 6 points in 17 games.

The same argument also applies to Stamkos, who has two more years left at an $8 M cap hit and is already 35. As good as he once was, he’s barely a shadow of his former self now, with five points in 20 games.

Given the Canadiens’ depth issue at centre, which is likely to get even worse now that Jake Evans exited Thursday night’s game after a high hit from Tom Wilson, Ryan O’Reilly would be a much more enticing option. The rugged center might already be 34, but at least he’s only got one more year at $4.5 M left on his deal, and he is still producing. The big center has 13 points in 20 games and has a 56.4% success rate in the faceoff department.

Unlike many of his teammates, O’Reilly’s contract doesn’t include a no-movement clause, meaning he has no say on whether or not he gets traded. It might be worth remembering that the 6-foot-1, 207-pound pivot refused to sign a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs after landing there as a rental because he didn’t want to be in the spotlight of a big market and didn’t enjoy the media attention. There would be plenty of that in Montreal; could that prevent him from reporting if a trade was made? One would have to think the Canadiens would make sure it wouldn’t be the case before pulling the trigger on a deal.

If the Preds were to go ahead and trade O’Reilly, however, it wouldn’t send a great message to the room. The center is their second-highest scorer and one of just six players to reach double digits this season.

O’Reilly could definitely help the Canadiens, and his contract means he wouldn’t overstay his welcome either, but the question then becomes, what would the Preds need to trade one of their very few productive players right now? The Habs currently have nine picks at the next draft, including their first-round and two second-rounders, thanks to the Patrik Laine trade. Considering how stale the trade market is right now, Trotz could be in a position to be greedy; many teams would like to improve down the middle. The Predators are certainly one team to watch right now…

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