It’s another edition of NHL rumours for your Friday. We’ve got plenty of names that are garnering interest as we race to the March 3 deadline. Some teams have to make hard decisions when it comes to the deadline. A number of clubs are stuck in a kind of hockey purgatory. This means they’re not bad enough to get Connor Bedard and not good enough to contend. Today’s NHL Rumours looks at a possible Mattias Ekholm trade.
All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.
NHL Rumours
Mattias Eklhom Gets Trade Looks
Rumour: David Pagnotta and the rest of the Fourth Period staff have the Nashville Predators blueliner on the trade big board. The Swede has reportedly been shopped by general manager David Poile. Ekholm is currently in the first year of a four-year deal that pays him $25 million for the life of the contract.
Trade Watch List: Meier jumps to No.1 https://t.co/IWq4EyGn8y
— The Fourth Period (@TFP) February 2, 2023
The soon-to-be 33-year-old has played in the Music City for his entire 12-year NHL career. Ekholm may not provide the goals that someone like teammate Roman Josi does. However, he’s a reliable defender that can provide some veteran leadership. His best season was the 2017-18 season when he scored 10 goals.
What a Mattias Ekholm Trade Could Mean
Ekholm may not be one of the most eye-popping names on the trade bait list. However, he can still be a good acquisition for teams that need defensive help. The Edmonton Oilers were listed in the article that were linked with the Borlange, Sweden native.
Ekholm has pretty much partnered with any defencemen of note throughout the last decade-plus. Nashville is in the no man’s land where it’s not really bad, but they’re not a contender for the Stanley Cup. The Predators are three points from the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They could still make a charge, but they may also fall off and have a lot of salary decisions to make in the summer. Trading Ekholm could ease that.
