Earlier today the Columbus Dispatch reported that the Jackets and the Predators are working on a deal.
Keep hearing that trade talks between #CBJ and #Preds have intensified.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 6, 2016
This was followed up by a post by Aaron Portzline which alluded to the fact that there may be a blockbuster brewing between the two clubs, one that could potentially see some combination of Ryan Johansen, Scott Hartnell, Fedor Tyutin or Kerby Rychel heading to Nashville.
The obvious starting point when talking about a potential return would be Seth Jones, who’s pegged as a future top blueliner. Jones is an RFA at season’s end and would need a new deal.
According to General Fanager, the Preds have almost $11 million in cap space, but it’s unknown if the team has an internal cap preventing them from adding a bunch of salary. You’d have to think that if the deal is large enough, the Jackets may have to take some dollars back. Colin Wilson comes to mind, he’s a center that could offset the loss of Johansen and comes with a cap hit of just under $4 million until July 1, 2019.
If Rychel is included, and the deal can be broken out as a prospect-for-prospect portion, perhaps a name like Kevin Fiala (1st round, 2014) would make sense.
Buckle up, things are getting very interesting.