Elliotte Friedman Reveals the Nashville Predators are Open to Trading Stanley Cup Champion Forward
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman recently revealed that the Nashville Predators are interested in trading Ryan O'Reilly.
The Predators season has not gone exactly how they planed.
The team is currently 13-22-7, which firmly places them in 7th place in the central division.
After major offseason acquisitions including Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, most fans were expecting more from the team than this.
As a result, the team may be forced to pivot into a retool or a proper rebuild, especially considering how old the core is.
That makes players like Ryan O'Reilly trade bait. The 33-year-old center has 12 goals and 25 points through 39 games this season.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has confirmed that teams are asking about him and a deal may very well happen, but it won't be easy.
O'Reilly has three years left on his deal with the Predators that carries a 4 million dollar cap hit.
As he says, there is no formal trade protection in his contract, so the team could go back on their word at any moment, but that would seem unlikely.
As a result, it does seem as though the veteran center will only be moved this season if O'Reilly himself agrees to it.
And why wouldn't he? He is 33 years old and this will certainly be the last contract of his career.
The Predators have massively underperformed expectations this season and it may be some time before they are back in the playoffs, let alone Stanley Cup contenders.
If O'Reilly wants to win again, it may very well be in his best interests to accept a trade to a a better team.
