(Proposal) VAN-NSH: Jake Virtanen for Yakov Trenin (and a pick?)

[Herberts Vasiljevs]

Why does Nashville do this?

 

The Predators are going to be in cap hell with the flat cap, so after letting Mikael Granlund walk in free agency (and quite possibly Craig Smith too), Virtanen is a cheaper option that would slot very well into their top-6. He also adds more speed to a Nashville lineup that doesn't seem to be getting any quicker either.

 

Why does Vancouver do this?

 

If I remember correctly, the Canucks had Trenin very high on their draft list back in 2015. Nashville has been slow cooking him ever since, and he's on the cusp of becoming a very solid NHL'er who can play both centre and left wing. We wouldn't have to protect him in the expansion draft, and given that he'd be a much cheaper option than Virtanen, that saved money could be used to help the Canucks re-up Toffoli. Also, the MacAttack should be in the NHL full-time now.

 

I could go on all day about why I think it's best for Vancouver to send Virtanen packing, but that's a whole other discussion in itself... Let me know your thoughts below. 

[HorvatToBaertschi]

Why is it that every time that there's even the slightest controversy with a player, people sprint to make proposals to get rid of them. It's cringy. We're keeping virtanen. 

[IBatch]

54 minutes ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

Why is it that every time that there's even the slightest controversy with a player, people sprint to make proposals to get rid of them. It's cringy. We're keeping virtanen. 

For me the cost to keep TT just keeps getting higher and higher once we adding cap dumps to help save what - in this case 1 million dollars next season?  He will get a short bridge that is closer to his actual value (20/20 over a full year at 1.5 is a total steal, especially in the bottom six for the most part).   
 

JV, Madden a second ... to add 1-1.5 at the most in possible cap savings doesn’t make any sense to me at least.   JVs cap contributions should be safe even in the 2.5-3 million range - and actually helping the team at that range too.   
 

Pearson and Roussel are the low hanging fruit.   We should be looking to trade these guys first before trading away our youth.   Ferland and Bear should be able to manage the L side in their absence.   Same with JV actually - worse case move him to the L side he’s capable of it.   I see Pearson and a Roussel both being traded to sign everyone ... that’s the actual cost to sign TT and everyone else...steep isn’t it?

[mll]

Don't think Nashville would be interested.  Watson seems to be a bit of the odd man out under Hynes and they need some meanness - not many players can make Chara buckle.  Trenin is also younger, cheaper and can play C.   

 

Virtanen has arbitration rights and the award could be too rich for Nashville and without the option to walk away.  It also limits their flexibility until the arbitration process is over.  Poile always argues about Nashville dollars to get players at a lower number - favourable taxation and low cost of living.

 

I am not sure that they would want to bring someone like Virtanen over either.  Poile says that whenever he makes a deal he worries about character and whether the player will fit into their group.  Fiala and Virtanen were drafted the same year.  They felt that Fiala was too young for their group and that Granlund was a better fit maturity wise.  The Predators are looking to win a Cup and the earlier the better.  I think they'll prefer to keep their homegrown talent and find someone that fits their age group better.  

 

[Bissurnette]

I'd rather package JV with a cap dump if we're going that route. We have enough talent on our roster and coming up in the pipeline that we don't need to add more. We just need to clear up some cap space (and some bodies so the young kids on ELC can slot in).