Nashville Predators | Time after David Poile

[Tie Montana]

"After season 2020-2021 David Poile calls it career and Nashville Predators are heading into a new era. They end up signing 36 years old Tie Montana to their new general manager. Deal is 3 years and $1,950,000 per season."

Teams owner Tom Cigarran is setting a note: "We are heading into a rebuild."

Tie Montana:
"First of all i took look up to our depth chart. Who are the players we are looking to build on and who got to go. We dont have that many great prospects. Lots of "lets see how they develop"- type of young players. My goal is built on our future picks and i except 2-3 bad years before we start to go up again."

Lets see- Prospects:
Farrance LD (22 years old, 2/4.5 A/P)
L'Heureux C (18 years old, 2/4 A/P)
Tolvanen LW (22 years old, 2.5/3.5 A/P)
Afanasyev RW/LW (20 years old, 2/4 A/P)

Better prospects:
Askarov G (19 years old, 1/4 A/P)
Tomasino RW/C (20 years old, 2.5/5 A/P)

Then we had to decide who got to go. There was three pretty obvious choices. Other options would have been Josi, Saros, Ekholm or Granlund.

Forsberg
Montreal Canadiens acquire Filip Forsberg from Nashville Predators.

To Montreal:
Forsberg 1-year $6,000,000, 50% retained.

To Nashville:
Paul Byron 2-years $3,400,000 AAV
2022 Draft 1st Round draft pick (Carolina)

Duchene
Buffalo Sabres acquire Matt Duchene from Nashville Predators.

To Buffalo:
Duchene 5-years $8,000,000 AAV
2022 Draft 3rd Round draft pick (Los Angeles Kings)
2023 Draft 3rd Round draft pick (Nashville Predators)
2024 Draft 3rd Round draft pick (Nashville Predators)

To Nashville:
Cody Eakin 1-year $2,250,000
2022 Draft 1st Round draft pick (Florida Panthers)


Johansen
Dallas Stars acquire Ryan Johansen from Nashville Predators.

To Dallas:
Johansen 4-years $8,000,000 AAV

To Nashville:
Denis Gurianov 1-year $2,550,000

After these trades we are holding three 1st round picks in 2022 draft. I had to make couple of more trades just to keep us over minimum salary cap.

The Nashville Predators would send:
Rights to Simon Knak - Picked 2021 at #179 (Round 6)
Rights to Gunnarwolfe Fontaine - Picked 2020 at #202 (Round 7)
2022 Draft 4th Round draft pick (Nashville)
2024 Draft 4th Round draft pick (Nashville)

To the Seattle Kraken, getting:
Brandon Tanev (4-years $3,500,000 AAV) in return.

The Nashville Predators would send:
Rights to Luke Reid - Picked 2020 at #166 (Round 6)

To the New York Islander, getting:
Leo Komarov (1-year $3,000,000) in return.

The Nashville Predators would send:
Rights to Konstantin Volkov - Picked 2016 at #168 (Round 6)

To the Arizona Coyotes, getting:
Jay Beagle (1-year $3,000,000) in return.


Noteworthy extension in offseason:
24 years old Denis Gurianov
5-years $22,500,000 ($4,500,000 AAV) Starts 1.7.2022.
In NHL: 141 GP 33+30=63 +2

Season preview, depth chart & opening night roster.

Season is starting. We dont have an absolutely terrible roster. Especially our Defense and goaltending is decent. We dont have any bad contracts (if you dont want to count in 31 years old Josi 7 x $9,059,000 AAV). We are hoping to see Panthers and/or Hurricanes struggle to add some value our 1st round draft picks. I feel our offseason was pretty ok. We got two 1st round picks, Gurianov and we get rid of Johansen & Duchene. We are able to start build our roster next summer based on who we pick in 2022 draft.

[Tie Montana]

Nashville 9.1.2022

Contract News

RW Luke Kunin signs new deal

Deal is 5 years and $22,500,000 ($4,500,000 AAV). Starts 1.7.2022.
Kunin (24 years old) is overall good player in offense and defense. He can play in any top9 line, but in most teams he is top6 forward. You can trust him on PP aswell as PK. He goes in same category with Gurianov. They are both reliable top6 forwards. Gurianov is also good on defense, but maybe not that much of an PK player. Depending about our draft picks and free agency they are our future players or assets. Lets try to develop them as much as we can.

Nick Cousins Stays with Predators

Deal is 3 years and $6,000,000 ($2,000,000 AAV). Starts 1.7.2022.
Cousins (28 years old) can play in any position C/LW/RW. He is good bottom6 forward with an elite defensive read. Also this helps fulfilling our cap to get over minimum in next few years.

We extend Jay Beagle 1 year and $3,000,000 deal.


Thoughts about few players

Mikael Granlund C/RW

29 years old
4 years $5,000,000 AAV.
(Major Injury Status: Indefinite)
NHL 2021-2022 29 GP 9+16=25 +5 GR:69


He is my hometown boy so he is not going anywhere. Consider him as untouchable. Solid top6 forward who will not lose games to you. You can always trust the Golden Mike (Kulta-Mikke like we like to call him here in finland). Unfortunately got injured after a good start.


David Farrance LD

22 years old
1 year $925,000 AAV. Extension starts 1.7.2022 3 years $3,600,000 ($1,200,000 AAV)
AHL 2021-2022 16 GP 5+7=12 +5 GR:81
NHL 2021-2022 19 GP 2+8=10 +1 GR:63

2.5/4.5 A/P. He has developed so much already this season. Elite puckhandler who got some speed in his skates also. His strengths are not in defense, but hey nor does it have Karlsson. Really looking forward if we can get a young Josi out of him. Making extension early in preseason paying off nicely(), but at the end of the day we dont gain that much edge out of that, because we are not a contender team.

Cody Glass C/RW

22 years old
1 year $863,333AAV. Extension starts 1.7.2022 3 years $2,760,000 ($920,000 AAV 2-way)
AHL 2021-2022 21 GP 1+8=9 +2 GR:72
NHL 2021-2022 13 GP 2+7=9 0 GR:66

After Granlund got injured Glass has started his road back to the top prospect talks. Hes ATOI is 17:46 and he is playing 1st line center. This is really the last call for Vegas Golden Knights 6th overall pick from 2017 draft, if he wants to be a top6 forward in NHL level. He has good defensive read and speed but nothing else doesnt stand out from his game. Its do or die for Glass!


Philip Tomasino RW/C

20 years old
3 years 2-way Entry level $863,333AAV.
NHL 2021-2022 42 GP 4+15 =19 -7 GR:65

3/4.5 A/P. Tomasino is looking a good prospect on his rookie season averaging 15:41 icetime. He has average offensive skills and skating, but nothing really stands out from his game. It looks like he is going to develop atleast top6 forward in NHL. But there is something that just doesnt work between us and after our scouts told me that, he can had problems to perform in big games ive made my desicion. We are going to move Tomasino when the offer is right. He is on trade block.


Tie Montana: "We are looking to move Grimaldi RW/LW during the olympics. Afanasyev is having a great season in AHL (AHL 2021-2022 25 GP 11+14=25 +3 GR:73) and we want to give him a chance to play in Nashville Predators. Rittich is also on trade block. His contract ends after this season."


Player in picture: Yegor Afanasyev

[Tie Montana]

The Olympics break 13.2 in Nashville


WE HAVE A TRADE!

Tomasino picked at #29 overall in 2019 draft is traded To Seattle Kraken. Krakens are standing 4th in Pacific division with 25-22-6 record. Nashville Predators are getting draft picks in return.

2023 Draft 1st Round draft pick (Seattle Kraken)
2024 Draft 2nd Round draft pick (Seattle Kraken)



We claim Morgan Geekie C/RW from waivers. He signs 3 year 2-way deal.

Mattias Ekholm (31 years old) placed on trade block. Lets see if we can get a real good offer.

[Tie Montana]

Nashville Predators Regular Season

I dont know how, but we ended up making it to playoffs with 41-36-5 record. We finished 4th in Central division, 8th in Western conference and 17th in League. We scored 2.59 goals per game and allowed 2.82 goals per game. This wasnt result i was excepting, but no complaints since Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers didnt make it to playoffs. So we have a two top 15 picks in 2022 NHL Draft.

Our two best offensive forwards (Tolvanen & Granlund) was injured majority of the season. Tolvanen played 49 games and Granlund 29 games. When Granlund got injured we were top 6 team in the league.

[Nickphillies]

Impressive showing despite trading a lot of talented forwards!

[Tie Montana]

Nashville Predators Run

As you can probably already guess... It was quick 1st round exit Dallas Stars took us down 4-2. We managed to win game 2 and 3. Then Josi came back from the injury and we were out. Nothing much else i can say here. Atleast we got some playoffs experience for our young guys. Now lets focus on Draft!


Vegas Golden Knights is Stanley Cup winner!

[Tie Montana]

Award winners 2021-22

[Tie Montana]

News around League

Noteworthy retirments:

Jay Beagle (Nashville Predators)
Leo Komarov (Nashville Predators)
Zdeno Chara
Patrick Marleau (San Jose Sharks retire his number)
Zach Parise
Andrej Sekera
Jason Spezza
Paul Statsny
Joe Thornton
Eric Staal
Nick Foligno
Tuukka Rask

Bill Foley Sells Las Vegas Golden Knights
"I have always wanted to own a restaurant chain, so i think im going to try and start something soon" Foley told reporters.

[Tie Montana]

Holy ****!!! We got LUCKYYY!! Our 10th pick ended up being 6th and our 4th ended up being 1st! We also have a 17th pick.

[Tie Montana]

With 1st overall pick in 2022 Draft... Nashville Predators are proud to select... from Kingston Frontenacs...

Shane Wright

[Tie Montana]

With 6th overall pick in 2022 Draft... Nashville Predators are proud to select... from HK Nitra...

Simon Nemec

[Tie Montana]

With 17th overall pick in 2022 Draft... Nashville Predators are proud to select... from Sarnia Sting...

Max Namestnikov

[Tie Montana]

Thoughts about few players 2022-23

Alexander Campbell C
21 years old
2 years $845,000 AAV
Picked 2019 Draft at #65 (Round 3) 2/4.5 A/P
AHL 2021-22 72 GP 11+13=24 -1 GR:64

I didnt even mention him at the start of the season 2021-22. I thought his potential would go down right after season changes. But he proved me wrong and keeped his potential. He has same kind of offensive tools with Tomasino, but he lacks on mental ratings and defence. He will start the season 2022-23 with AHL Milwaukee Admirals. Hes gonna face really high level of competition to make it in Nashville Predators since we are pretty stacked atm with our young C depth. He is battling same spots with Wright, Namestnikov, L'Heureux, Glass, Svechkov, Prokopenko. In his disadvantage he is not my own pick.

Max Namestnikov C
18 years old
Picked 2022 Draft at #17 (Round 1) 1/4 A/P
OHL 2021-22 41 GP 14+16=30 -6 GR:80

Maxy boy... Hes gonna spent 2022-23 in OHL, but he shows really good potential. Already in age of 18 it seems hes gonna be a really solid 200ft forward. In my system its really important to have 2nd line C who can play solid 2-way game and kill some penalties. I have really high hopes on him to back up Wright in future. There is also a world where he is our 1st line C and Wright plays on wing.

Shane Wright C/RW
18 years old
3 years $925,000 AAV
Picked 2022 Draft at #1 (Round 1) 2.5/5 A/P
OHL 2021-22 68 GP 54+64=118 +31 GR:88

I think its obvious, that he has to be the face of franchise in future. Pretty sure he is ready to play in NHL right away, but i left small window open, that he is back in juniors after 9 games if something goes wrong or we dont want to use first year of his contract.

Simon Nemec RD
18 years old
3 years $925,000 AAV
Picked 2022 Draft at #6 (Round 1) 1.5/4 A/P
Tipos Extraliga 2021-22 42 GP 6+18=24 +3 GR:66

Signed to a entry level deal, but he will stay with HK Nitra 2022-23. Its really important for us, that he can develop to top 2 D-man in NHL.

Roman Josi LD
32 years old
6 years $9,059,000 AAV
Picked 2008 Draft at #38 (Round 2) 4/4 A/P
NHL 2021-22 74 GP 13+22=35 -8 GR:66

Last season for Josi was pretty awful. 35 points is just not enough. 11 of them was PP points. He needs to step up and lead the team. Two bad seasons in a row is not an option here. Maybe in near future Nemec is able to help him play better, but he is not ready yet. I kindly ask... STEP UP! WE NEED YOU!

[Tie Montana]

Hall Of Fame 2022-23

[Tie Montana]

Season 2022-23

We enter the season with pretty much same team what we had last year. Only move i made in free agency was Ethan Bear signing to 2 years $1,400,000 AAV deal. I wanted to add little bit of depth in our defence.

I dont except Playoffs spot, but like we learned last year.. everything is possible.

Our depth in prospects looks really good. Maybe little better on forwards than D-mans. But no worries, since we have a good amount of assets to pull trades when we are a contender team. We also have a two 1st round draft picks 2023.

Afanasyev will replace Geekie in lineup when he is back from short term injury.

[Tie Montana]

Some News

Roman Josi got injured after 2 games. He will be gone roughly 8 months... Not good...

Connor Ingram G signed 2 years $1,000,000 AAV. Little bit of depth to our goaltending even tho i believe Askarov will be in show next year.

Afanasyev struggling. Its been rough year for him. Only 3 points in 16 GP. Im considering moving him back to Milwaukee Admirals.

Askarov playing monster season in KHL. 24 GP 1.65 GAA .931% GR:72

Dante Fabbro RD signed 3 years $3,900,000 AAV.

Seattle Kraken 30th in NHL with 7-14-0 record. Looks good for our 1st round pick.

[Tie Montana]

Nashville Predators draft list 2022 (better late than never).

[Tie Montana]

We have a trade! Myers contract was running out after this year and i had a chat with him where he told me he was looking for around 3 years $4,000,000 AAV deal. That was so far away from what i was ready to offer ($2,000,000) so i decided we let him go if we were able to find replacement.

We found it!

Brett Pesce RD signs with Nashville Predators. Deal is 3 years $4,800,000 AAV. I was looking for right shot D-man who are more defensive player and can make a good pair with Ferrance. I couldnt find any trades so in my last option i checked free agents and Pesce was there. I dont know how he was free agent since i think he has a deal with Carolina Hurricanes in real life. Maybe they bought him out for whatever reason.

Player Poll


Season Update

[Tie Montana]

We have a trade!


I placed Novak C (2.5/2.5 A/P) on trade block just to make some space for our young guys to get more icetime in AHL. Calgary Flames offered Zary C/LW (2/4 A/P) in return. Is this real life?

"I honestly believe that was a massive brain fart from Brad Treliving (Calgary Flames General Manager)." Tie Montana commented to reporters.

[Tie Montana]

Adding depth for a playoff race. Chicago Blackhawks traded Cirelli from Tampa Bay Lightning in return to 2nd round draft pick. So we answered with Bjork! He is 4th line LW with good defensive awarness. Maybe he can play on PK too. (Edit: We won Chicago 3-0 in next game).

We sign Bjork to 4 years $2,000,000 AAV deal. He is amazing backcheking forward. You need those if you wanna win a Stanley Cup.