Carolina Hurricanes: Scavenging the Carcass of the Nashville Predators

It has been rumored for a while that the Nashville Predators are going to ignite the dynamite and blow the team to smithereens this summer. With that, there will be a few good pieces ripe for the picking. Given the right price, there are a few guys who will look great with the Hurricane over their chest instead of the sabretooth tiger of the predators.

Now, Nashville isn’t going to ship everyone off. There are three untouchables, all for slightly different reasons. Ryan Ellis is one, I’m assuming because they think the value for him is greater to the team than whatever they can get back for him. That’s probably true too, which shows you that Nashville has a general manager who’s not going to do stupid things in David Poile.

Roman Josi is another one of their untouchables. He’s the captain of the team, and one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL. Despite being a little lackadaisical in his own zone, he still clearly has a place on this Predators roster going forward. His offensive production has not faltered, and with his contract looking to take a steep turn in the final years, they will get more out of him than back for him.

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Pekka Rinne is the final untouchable. Likely because he’s 38, and in the final year of his contract, the team wants him to retire a Predator. Unless Rinne asks to be allowed to go chase a Stanley Cup in what might be the last year of his NHL career, he’ll retire a Predator. I also don’t know that the market for a goalie like Rinne would be too great seeing his inconsistency in the last few seasons.

Otherwise, everyone on the Nashville roster is ripe for the picking. However, we all know that David Poile has been in this league forever, and knows exactly what his players are worth. Looking at his roster, there’s no doubt he has the assets here to pull off a New York Rangers-style rebuild and recoup enough assets to open the window again in a few years.

Now, I will not be talking about two players who might scream at you coming off this roster. Neither Jusse Saros nor Filip Forsberg will feature here. There was already a piece that came out a few days ago talking about the idea of acquiring these two, so I will instead link to that piece below here and talk about a few other potential targets for the Carolina Hurricanes.

So, you might be thinking “Who else is there on this Nashville roster? Their only available goaltender isn’t in this piece and with no Forsberg either? Why am I reading?” To that, I ask you to be patient. Nashville has a roster with many studded pieces and many desirable assets. With no one other than those 5 off the board as potential targets, one can only hope for certain moves to be made.

Viktor Arvidsson

With Nashville burning it down, this one may seem to be a little more desirable than the idea of acquiring another Finnish center. So let’s have a Swedish winger instead. Viktor Arvidsson is the player of choice here. While there hasn’t been a link between this player and the Hurricanes in previous times, I find it difficult to believe that it isn’t a nice idea to target the Swede.

Arvidsson, who turns 28 on April 8th, makes $4.25 million for this season and the three after. His contract situation doesn’t help the cap struggles the Canes will have. However, his deal is more than worth it. Ideally a top 6 winger, Arvidsson would be a great addition to any team trying to push for that Stanley Cup championship.

Over the course of his career, the Swedish winger has 121 goals and 107 assists for an oddly pleasing 228 points in 367 NHL games. I know that the 367 NHL games at the age of 28 is not good, and yes, Arvidsson has struggled with injuries during his career. However, when he’s in the lineup he has a substantial scoring rate, despite it slowing down in recent years.

As a Right shot winger, he fills a need Carolina has suffered with for a long time. Either to give equality to that first line or to throw him on the 3rd line to provide a solid shooting option on his off-wing, it’s something that the Canes lineup could use to thrive. It provides flexibility up and down the lineup and would add something Carolina’s forward core lacks.

So what would it take for the Swede? I’m sure you’ve worked out at this point, Arvidsson won’t be a cheap piece to acquire. I’d imagine David Poile would start with asking for a 1st round pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft, without any sort of protection. If not that, I’d imagine he would have a prospect in mind and an early-round pick.

This is a steep price to pay when space under the NHL salary cap is a premium and you’re likely not going to shift anything back to the Predators in any deal. However, the team is so much better with the theoretical addition of Arvidsson that the pros outweigh the cons in this scenario and make it a move, in my opinion, that the Canes should definitely explore if it is possible.

Calle Jarnkrok

One player that might fly under the radar in the rebuild in Nashville is one Calle Jarnkrok. Not known for being a particularly great producer offensively, Jarnkrok would be a good addition to the middle six of any lineup across the league. Yes, this Swede isn’t as high-caliber as some of the others on the Predators roster, yet he’s the one I’ve singled out here, and for some reasons.

While Calle Jarnkork is not a standout player on any roster, he very well could be a good complimentary piece on a true contender like the situation the Canes find themself in. Jarnkrok is capable of playing anywhere in the forward core, and would ideally fill out the 3rd line perfectly to make it a little more intimidating when in the offensive zone. Not a major pickup, but better than what you might think.

Jarnkrok in his career has played in 485 NHL games and has 90 NHL goals with 108 assists to make up 198 points. This is not someone who’s going to light the lamp every single night, but he’s capable of producing in a bottom-six role which is a major need for Carolina right now. When the top 6 is not functioning, there’s going to be times you need that bottom 6 to stand up.

Jarnkrok would likely slot in on the 3rd line as a depth scoring option to really allow the Canes to roll with three lines that can hurt you on the scoreboard and one line that can hurt you in your body. While needing scorers on your 3rd line is a relatively nice problem to have in comparison to years past, someone like Jarnkrok could very well end up making this Canes team deeper.

So, what would the cost be for Jarnkrok? I’d imagine something like a 2nd rounder should be enough for David Poile to bite the bullet with this Swedish forward. It’s certainly not going to cost the far to bring in this sort of depth, but the forward market is going to be kind of sparse with proven quality depth guys like this.

Could it be cheaper? Certainly. Plus, Jarnkrok isn’t a guy you’ll find anywhere listed as trade bait. He would be a very quiet and almost under the radar pickup. He would bolster the depth significantly, especially with the injuries already stockpiling in this shortened season. It’s no secret you need to be deep to win Championships, and Jarnkrok would make this team deeper.

There are probably more Predators I could have talked about but I wanted to keep a limit on it. I don’t want to push a narrative and I should reiterate that this is all just theoretical. I do not have access to any information that isn’t already public. I am just talking about the idea of these players in Carolina, so feel free to yell at me about how these players are all bad ideas to trade for!