By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — The reshaping of the Nashville Predators continued last Friday as the team placed forward Matt Duchene on unconditional waivers. This move was followed by a buyout of his contract, a decision that made him a free agent.
Duchene had signed a seven-year, $56 million dollar deal back in 2019. By doing this the Predators will take cap hits of $2.56 million next season, $5.56 in 2024-25, $6.56 million in 2025-26 and $1.57 million from 2026-2029.
It follows a decision to trade center Ryan Johansen to Colorado June 24 for Alex Galchenyuk, another deal that sees the Predators paying half Johansen’s $8 million salary the next two seasons. New general manager Barry Trotz, who officially took over July 1, has said he wants the team to move forward with emphasis on a host of new players buttressed by the core group of captain Roman Josi, forward Filip Forsberg and goalie Juuse Saros.
The buyout left the Predators with just over $24.2 million in cap space. NHL free agency has begun, so the Titans might also be looking in that direction.
Outgoing general manager David Poile’s final duties came last Wednesday and Thursday, as he handled the draft. The first two picks taken Wednesday were UConn right winger Matthew Wood (15) and defenseman Tanner Molendyk (24).
They drafted center Felix Nilsson and left wing Kaplan Lind in the second round, right wing Jesse Kiiskinen and Dylan MacKinnon in the third round, center Joey Willis and goalie Juha Jatkola in the fourth round, center Sutter Muzzatti in the fifth round, foward Austin Roestvin the sixth and right wing Aiden Fink in the seventh.
Prior to the draft, the Predators hired former standout goalie Pekanbaru Rinne as their European development coach and scout. He was a special adviser to the team last season.
Rinne, the 2018 Vezina Trophy winner, played 15 seasons with the Predators. He appeared in 772 games, and had 414 wins, regular season and playoffs. He is the only player in franchise history to have his number retired.
Rinne and Josi honored Poile by presenting him with a Gibson guitar Wednesday at the opening of the draft. Poile retired as the longest-tenured general manager in league history.
