Image Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
It’s about darn time, y’all. After being nominated three times previously (2011, 2012, 2015), fourth time was the charm for our beloved Finnish goaltender.
Pekka knocked off Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and fellow Central Division goaltender, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.
Congrats, Peks!
Image Source: Getty Images
Well, we all thought it was going to be a quiet Sunday evening, but Ottawa, Nashville, and Colorado all had different plans. You could be living under a hockey rock and still know that the Avalanche have been trying to deal Matt Duchene for some time now, but – also known – Joe Sakic just couldn’t quite get one together that wasn’t laughed at by the other GMs of the league. While this deal has been floating around all weekend, it was finally confirmed just moments ago:
Though it doesn’t happen very often, Colorado is currently on the ice in New York against the Islanders, which means Duchene was nonchalantly pulled from the ice and sent on his way. While that doesn’t sound like the most ideal way to be traded, it keeps the traded player from possibly getting injured if he were to continue to play and the news was presented after the game. But you aren’t here to know more about the Duchene/Ottawa trade, are you? Of course not. The real question is: What did Nashville give up for Kyle Turris?
Well, if you read the headline, you know it was Nashville prospects Samuel Girard and Vladislav Kamenev. This did come as a bit of a surprise, as both these players were well on their way to finding a home amongst the Predators; heck, Girard had the potential to become a regular in the lineup. However, it’s important to note that Nashville did not give up any of its Top 4 defenseman in order to seal this trade, as that is what most of the rest of the league would prefer.
While most would have preferred Matt Duchene to Nashville, Kyle Turris is not someone to overlook. Let’s compare both Turris and Duchene’s stats for this season:
DUCHENE:
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 2017-18 | Colorado Avalanche | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
TURRIS:
| SEASON | TEAM | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 2017-18 | Ottawa Senators | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
As you can see, Duchene and Turris are almost identical in stats this season and I would encourage you to compare the two in previous seasons. Nashville also signed the 28-year-old center to a 6-year, $36M deal, which means the Predators now have their needed Top 3 centers (Johansen, Turris, Bonino) locked for a combined 18 years, $116M.
Though we hate to see Kamenev and Girard part ways with Nashville (as their NHL potential has yet to be truly tapped), adding Turris to the lineup will bring a much needed positive impact on the Predators and its center depth.
To clarify this three-way trade between Ottawa, Nashville, and Colorado, the Avalanche now acquire Bowers, Hammond, Girard, Kamenev and draft picks from Nashville and Ottawa respectively. Ottawa now has Matt Duchene and Nashville has Kyle Turris.
Photo Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
As most expected, the Nashville Predators announced in today’s press conference that the 8th captain in franchise history would be none other than No. 59, Roman Josi.
Along with Josi, Ryan Ellis (who is currently suffering from a post-season injury) was named Associate Captain while Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Johansen, and Filip Forsberg have all been given the roles of alternate captain.
Fun Fact: Roman Josi is the second Swiss-born player to be named a captain in the NHL.
For more information, check out the Predators’ official statement here.
Image Source: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
Happy birthday to me, y’all. Seriously, it’s my birthday and I am going to choose to believe that Ryan Johansen and his agent purposefully held out on a contract agreement until today. True story.
But for those of you who want the real facts, the Nashville Predators announced shortly after 2PM today that a special presser would be held at 3PM & almost everyone had their thoughts as to what it would be about:
Oh, but it did, Justin. It. Did. Shortly after Justin Bradford tweeted this, Adam Vingan of the Tennessean posted his article announcing that Ryan Johansen and the Nashville Predators had indeed come to an agreement on a new contract. Those contract details?
Eight years, $64 million.
Image Source: Brooks Bratten/Nashville Predators
POW.
So with that news, it is official: the JOFA line is back in business. In case you aren’t sure who or what the JOFA line is, it consists of Ryan JOhansen, Filip Forsberg, and Viktor Arvidsson. Forsberg is already in year two of a six-year, $36M contract and Arvidsson just signed his seven-year, $29.75M contract on July 22nd.
In the presser today at 3PM, Ryan Johansen also announced that has recovered from his injury sustained during the playoffs (acute compartment syndrome) and is ready for a new season.
Image Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Just moments after it was announced that Predators forward James Neal would be the newest member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville General Manager David Poile was awarded the 2017 GM of the Year Award. And, by looking at the votes, it was no contest:
1. David Poile, NSH 112 (18-6-4)
2. Peter Chiarelli, EDM 52 (6-5-7)
3. Pierre Dorion, OTT 46 (2-10-6)
4. Lou Lamoriello, TOR 36 (5-3-2)
5. Bob Murray, ANA 36 (3-5-6)
General Manager from the very beginning, it was high time GMDP was awarded this great honor, but it couldn’t have come at a more unpleasant time directly after Neal was lost. But, beyond that little sad nugget, congrats to David Poile! Despite this frustrating moment in time, you have to give props to ‘The Magician’ (see: Filip Forsberg and P.K. Subban).
Image Source: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
Well, as soon as it was announced that Calle Jarnkrok was protected by Nashville to leave Neal exposed to the Expansion Draft, we knew it would be coming. We could easily argue both sides of the coin, but let’s be honest: losing James Neal is a difficult pill to swallow. Even with young guns like Pontus Aberg and Colton Sissons out in the water, exposing a veteran power forward with a ton of gas still left in the tank was just too tempting to pass up for the Vegas Golden Knights. The loss of James Neal will free up $5M in cap space for the Predators, but that doesn’t take the sting out, does it?
We will have more information from the organization once it becomes available.
Image Source: NHL.com
Or so we think. Although the original time frame for the new Adidas jersey reveal was sometime around 9PM, the Nashville Predators jumped the gun and released a video around 2PM. However, after making the rounds on social media, it was quickly pulled from the Predators website. Did someone accidentally hit publish instead of draft when working on it? Possibly (I’ve done it before), since it was eventually removed from the site. Seeing Nashville reveal their jerseys prompted the St. Louis Blues to release images of their new sweaters, but they, too, quickly removed the video from their site.
Whether it was an accident or not, we now know what Adidas has done to the Nashville sweaters from this point forward. And, as you can image, the reviews have been… not as positive as one would hope. For better comparisons, here is an image of the old Reebok jersey and the new Adidas brand:
Image Source: @BackhandedDevil
The intent, I believe, was to simplify the look, but – in my opinion – it kind of looks like a long-sleeved t-shirt that sort of wishes it was a jersey. Don’t get my wrong; I actually do not hate it. I am trying to keep an open mind as I vaguely recall being turned off by the gold jerseys when they were first revealed with the ‘BEHOLD THE GOLD’ campaign, but it eventually grew on me. I believe these new jerseys will grow, not only on me, but on the majority of you all before you even realize it. But, for now, let’s enjoy some reactions from around the Twitterverse:
While all of those reactions come across as negative, we did get one positive opinion:
Although sarcasm is sometimes hard to detect via Twitter, so this could be all for not. Anywho, what are your thoughts on the new Adidas jersey? It will be an interest change, but definitely not anything fans could not get used to eventually. I am interested in seeing the league’s other jerseys once they are revealed.
Image Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Early this afternoon, the Nashville Predators released some vital information for all you suffering from hockey withdraws: the 2017-18 pre-season schedule. Per usual (perhaps tradition), Nashville will face the Florida Panthers, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Columbus Blue Jackets to get ready for another bout towards the Stanley Cup.
And be sure to keep those calendars at hand as the full 2017-18 schedule will be released this coming Thursday. Pre-season tickets go on sale at 10AM this Friday, followed by a Fan Appreciation Draft Party at Bridgestone Arena from 4PM-10PM. For more information, visit the Nashville Predators site.
UPDATE: More players have been added to the exposed list as of 11:20AM CST.
After pushing the release of the lists back by thirty minutes, the NHL officially allowed us commoners to see who teams protected… and who they did not. By no surprise, the great debate between James Neal and Calle Jarnkrok has left the Real Deal exposed along with a few others that were expected.
Exposed Players:
Protected Players:
If you are freaking out about Neal (or anyone else) being exposed, as I mentioned in my previous post, that doesn’t automatically mean he’s headed to Vegas. Now that the exposed players have been released, teams can negotiate trades between the Golden Knights to attempt to protect these particular players. However, David Poile will more than likely have an uphill battle when it comes to negotiating with Las Vegas General Manager George McPhee (see Erat/Latta for Forsberg trade).
Wondering about Nashville’s other players? Here’s the list of the Predators’ exempt players from the Expansion Draft:
UPDATE: It has now been acknowledged that Pontus Aberg, Mike Fisher, P.A. Parenteau, Vernon Fiddler, and Petter Granberg are not exempt from the expansion draft. It is important to note that Fisher, Fiddler, and Parenteau are all free agents, which means Vegas could go ahead and sign these players (the rest of the league has to wait until July 1st). However, if Vegas were to sign one of Nashville’s free agents, that would count as their expansion draft pick leaving the rest of the exposed players (like Neal, Watson, and Aberg) to stay with Nashville.
To see who the other teams in the league protected and exposed, here is the list from the NHL. So, what are your thoughts? Do you think GMDP can manage to work out a deal to save Neal? Whatever the case, there is no denying that George McPhee has the best seat in the house for this expansion draft and is soaking up every second of it.
Image Source: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
While the notion has been floating in the back of our minds since the announcement of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, those backing the Nashville Predators were focused on more in-the-moment matters as of late. Alas, the time as come for all (current) thirty teams to expose a player to the Expansion Draft whether they were ready to or not. While some teams opted to trade around, the Predators either remained silent on the matter or couldn’t get one sorted out. Either way, the expansion draft is not going to necessarily be kind to Nashville, though there are ways to lessen the blow.
Although names like Colin Wilson and Craig Smith have been tossed around, ultimately it seemed as if it came solely down between Calle Jarnkrok and James Neal. While Neal’s contract will be more extensive (expensive) in the future, one could offset that case with his dependability (and goal scoring). But, as we all know, it isn’t all about goals… I guess. Another reason why David Poile is the GM and not me.
Long story short, Adam Vingan of The Tennessean reported earlier this afternoon that Calle Jarnkrok’s agent stated that the young center was on Nashville’s protected list from the expansion. While the Twitterverse collectively freaked out (understandably), that does not ultimately mean that James Neal will be donning a Golden Knights jersey come this October. However, we will all find out just who was exposed and who was protected tomorrow morning at 10AM when the NHL reveals the protected list.
As you mull that over, let’s remember some key dates coming up in the extremely near future:
Lady Preds 