We’ve made it. It’s finally trade deadline day. A lot of rumors are flying around out there. The big question of the day is “What will David Poile do?” Will he swing for the fences and try for Mark Stone? Does he make a minor move to add some depth? Does he do nothing at all? The deadline is at 2PM today, so we will have all those questions answered soon. Until then, let’s jump into a little hockey first.
CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT
The Nashville Predators have really made a habit this year of making you think they’ve finally figured it all out and then they come out and have a performance like they did against the Colorado Avalanche. The win against the Dallas Stars was a great hockey game. Back and forth with a lot of action. It really had a playoff type feel to it. The win against the Los Angeles Kings was a little less thrilling, but the team found a way to win. Then we get to Saturday’s game against the Avalanche. Just an ugly, ugly game. Getting shut out at home and giving up five goals in your last game before the trade deadline is not a good way to impress the GM. You have to wonder what message that sends to Poile ahead of the deadline.
DEADLINE LOOMING
As of this writing at 5:45 this morning, the Preds have not made any major trades. Just a small minor league trade for future considerations. Of course that could all change at any moment. Which probably means by the time this gets published half the roster will be new players and this will all be irrelevant.
Some big names are already off the board with Duchene and Dzingel going to Columbus, Zuccarello headed to Dallas, and overnight Nyquist going to San Jose. Obviously, the big fish remaining is Mark Stone. The Preds have been linked to him, but so have the Winnipeg Jets. Are they in an arms race against each other to land the winger? Do the Preds have the assets to win an arms race? My feeling is Stone will be too pricey and the Poile will get someone like Hayes from the Rangers or Simmonds from Philly and I’m not sure that will be enough to get the Preds over the hump and back to the Stanley Cup Finals. I hope I’m wrong though. We’ll all know how it will all shake out in just a few hours. In the meantime, keep your phone chargers handy so you can refresh twitter approximately 34,289,798,759 times today.
THREE STARS OF THE WEEK
First Star – Roman Josi – Three goals and two assists this week for the Captain. In a season where the defense hasn’t really been putting up the points, Josi has had himself a really good season. He’s second on the team in points with 14 goals and 37 assists. I’ll take that all day from a defenseman.
Second Star – Ryan Ellis – It’s been a quiet year for Ellis, but he did pick up four assists this week. He’s starting to heat up a little bit too. He’ll be key for the Preds down the stretch.
Third Star – Kyle Turris – Another Pred that has been down a little bit, Turris had a PP goal and an assist this week. With the Preds searching for offense at the deadline, it’s a good time for him to finally get back on track.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Obviously, this is a huge week for the Predators. We have the deadline this afternoon on top of three huge games. Tonight, the McDavid-less Oilers are in town. The Preds have to get two points out of this one, considering what’s ahead of them this week because they turn right around and face the Blues on Tuesday night.
On top of that, they’ll head up to Winnipeg on Friday night. With two games against divisional opponents, the Preds can’t afford to have another performance like the 5-0 loss to Colorado. Maybe a new acquisition will be in the lineup? Of course, I’ll be monitoring Twitter for any moves. Buckle up, it’s about to get crazy.
Be sure to check out the Talking Preds Podcast. New episodes almost weekly. Be sure to follow along on Twitter and Facebook for live tweeting during the games along with something new we’re trying out. For certain games, I’ll be jumping on live during intermissions, pre-game, or post-game with thoughts on the game. Love to have some good hockey discussion so follow along and let me know what you guys think.
Herbie Brooks is the Lead Nashville Predators Analyst for SoBros Network. He knows three things: beating Commies, winning Gold Medals, and having great hair. Follow him on Twitter: @SoBroHerbie_B
Check out the SoBros Shop. Subscribe to our Patreon. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Listen on SoundCloud. Watch on YouTube.