Today we move up one more step in the Central Division as we discuss the summers of the Blackhawks’ division rivals. We’ve already looked at the Arizona Coyotes and St. Louis Blues. Let’s hop back in the car and make the drive down to Nashville, where they might not let us buy tickets but they sure saw Chicago show up for the draft in which Connor Bedard was selected by the Blackhawks.
Longtime head coach Barry Trotz is now the general manager in Nashville, and he made a somewhat surprising change behind the bench this summer. Former Blackhawks forward Andrew Brunette is now calling the shots, and he’ll have a new-look lineup to work with this season. Trotz made some other bold moves this summer, including two big-name players getting punted to change the culture in the room.
Head Coach: Andrew Brunette
2022-23 Record: 42-32-8 (92 points — 5th in the Central)
2022-23 Offensive Leaders
Goals: Matt Duchene (22)*
Assists: Roman Josi (41)
Points: Josi (59)
* — no longer with team
Current Cap Hit: ($7,906,635 available cap space)
Roster Additions: Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist
Roster Losses: Ryan Johansen,ဣ Matt Duchene, Alex Galchenyuk, Mark Borowiecki, Devin Cooley, Rasmus Asplund, John Leonard
Prospect Pool Rank (The Athletic):
Key Rookies/Prospects: Yaroslav Askarov, Matthew Woꦛod, Juuso Parssinen, Philip Tomasino
Outlook
The additions of ROR and Nyquist up front are nice moves for the Preds, but they’re going to have to replace the offense they received from both Duchene and Johansen. They’re also an intriguing watch because there was some buzz they could move Juuse Saros — who has two years remaining on his contract — and promote Askarov into the net. Saros has been one of the better netminders in the league over the past couple years, so it would be somewhat surprising if they made that move. But if Trotz is going to rebuild, he might be their best trade asset.
It will also be worth watching the forwards playing for money this year. Nashville has only four veteran forwards — O’Reilly, Nyquist, Colton Sissons and Cody Glass — under contract beyond this season. How deep is Trotz willing to go changing the trajectory of the franchise?
