After Nino Niederreiter trade, David Poile confirms Nashville Predators are sellers
Nino #Nino
It’s official: The Nashville Predators are sellers.
General manager David Poile on Saturday began that process by sending forward Nino Niederreiter to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The Predators signed Niederreiter to a two-year, $8 million contract before this season.
“I guess it’d be hard for me to deny that,” Poile told The Tennessean of being a seller. “We’ve sold a present for the future.”
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The trade deadline is March 3.
Poile had been undecided about the team’s direction in recent weeks, saying things were “day-to-day.” But moving Niederreiter, whose 18 goals are second on the Predators, signifies he has made up his mind.
He said he and his assistants have spent the last few weeks evaluating their situation and talking with other teams before a conclusion was reached to sell, though Poile didn’t say how much more selling he anticipates.
“I absolutely do not want to forecast anything,” Poile said. “I think most teams know we’re open-minded to listening. I’m not going to make a trade just to make a trade. I’m going to do something that I think takes us in the right direction. I think this is a fair trade for both teams.
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“It’s a little bit about us, but it’s also the other teams we have to climb over to make the playoffs. It’s a little bit of a heads-up to our players.”
Poile said this will be an opportunity for some younger players to play some more important minutes.
“We see this as an opportunity to make a little bit of change in our hockey club, get a good asset in a second-round pick,” he said.
As of Saturday afternoon, the Predators were 28-22-6 and seven points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The team has made the playoffs for the last eight seasons, the second-longest streak in the league. They have lost in the first round the last four seasons.
Nashville has been without forward Filip Forsberg (upper-body injury) for the last six games and lost Ryan Johansen for at least the rest of the regular season after he was cut by a skate blade.
The Predators have eight picks in the 2023 NHL Draft, which will be at Bridgestone Arena on June 28-29 – one in each of the first, second, fifth and sixth rounds and two in the second and third rounds. They also have eight picks in the 2024 draft.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: After Nino Niederreiter trade, David Poile confirms Nashville Predators are sellers