{"id":102127,"date":"2021-02-27T13:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T18:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=102127"},"modified":"2021-02-27T13:42:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-27T18:42:31","slug":"nhl-rumours-between-nashville-predators-and-tampa-bay-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/02\/27\/nhl-rumours-between-nashville-predators-and-tampa-bay-lightning\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours Between Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NHL rumours are in full force already this season. The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the market for a right-handed defenseman. Per Last Word\u2019s rumour piece on February 25th<\/a>, Nashville could be involved. Here\u2019s what could happen<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Rumours: Nashville and Tampa Potential Deals<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Nashville Predators are in the worst position, and potentially the best position, in hockey. They have talent that can get them into the playoffs, but they cannot put it together. So they\u2019re placed in the middle ground. That also means that they have valuable assets and, if they play their cards correctly, can launch into a quick and effective rebuild. See the New York Rangers as a prime example. Currently, they\u2019re leaning towards rebuilding. The Ryan Johansen<\/a> <\/strong>and Matt Duchene<\/strong><\/a> contracts are closer to being anchors than propellers. Juuse Saros<\/a> <\/strong>hasn\u2019t taken that next step quite yet to become the full-time starter. Pekka Rinne<\/a> <\/strong>hasn\u2019t aged like a fine wine. So, it\u2019s time to start selling off assets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Rumours: Who\u2019s Available in Nashville?<\/b><\/h3>\n

According to Elliotte Friedman\u2019s 31 Thoughts<\/a>, the Predators have everyone but three players on the table. The untouchables are Ryan Ellis<\/a><\/strong>, Roman Josi<\/a><\/strong>, and Pekka Rinne. Ellis and Josi are defensive stalwarts, who can lead the charge for the next few years and act as mentors for the young guys they bring in. Rinne will likely retire at the end of the season, or at the least, near future. They want him to retire as a Nashville Predator. Filip Forsberg<\/a><\/strong> and Dante Fabbro<\/a> <\/strong>were directly listed as guys who they aren\u2019t keen on dealing away, but with the right offer, are willing to listen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Lightning are looking towards adding a right-shot defenseman. They had Kevin Shattenkirk<\/a><\/strong> and Zach Bogosian<\/strong><\/a>, two key players in their Cup run, depart in free agency. Jan Rutta<\/a><\/strong> and Luke Schenn<\/a> <\/strong>haven\u2019t particularly worked out, and Schenn was even waived to the taxi squad. Cal Foote hasn\u2019t been totally confident, and it has been shown in his lacklustre performance so far. Erik Cernak<\/a> <\/strong>is the only reliable and stable defender on the right side.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[pickup_prop id=”4150″]<\/p>\n

Who would the Lightning be interested in?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The two affordable right-shot defenders in Nashville are Matt Benning<\/a><\/strong> and Dante Fabbro. Benning, at a $1 million cap hit, and Fabbro, on his entry-level contract. Benning could be had relatively cheap, while you would have to overpay to take Fabbro. Looking at Evolving-Hockey<\/a>, Fabbro is the more defensively-responsible and effective defender, while Benning provides more offence. To take it a step further, using Evolving Hockey\u2019s player cards, Fabbro has provided very little, even negative, value offensively since joining the Predators. Benning has been more steady but does not provide as much defensive value, over the last three seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at the Lightning roster, they have McDonagh and Cernak as a bonafide second pair. They have excellent chemistry and have played on a line together more often than not since Cernak joined the team. That leaves Hedman and Sergachev. Sergachev is solid both ways. He has declined slightly in his offensive game but has taken substantial strides defensively. Meanwhile, Hedman has become one of the best defensemen in the league, with his offensive game particularly standing out, though he is good both at both ends. That said, the key to the Lightning cup run was Hedman\u2019s offensive game opening up. Without Bogosian, having been paired up with one of Luke Schenn, Jan Rutta and Foote, he has not been too comfortable committing too heavily offensively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Dante Fabbro should be their target<\/b><\/h3>\n

Based on what we know, Fabbro\u2019s strong defensive zone presence would be a perfect fit alongside someone who is strong defensively, while looking to improve and open up their offensive games. That describes both Sergachev and Hedman. That said, Fabbro should be at the top of their list of right-shot defenders to target.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, what about Fabbro\u2019s impact? His three most common defence partners are Ekholm, Josi and Tinordi. Josi and Tinordi see a drop in their high-danger scoring chances for percentage when they aren\u2019t paired with Fabbro. That sort of impact would be loved in Tampa Bay, especially for Hedman. What would it take?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cost of Fabbro<\/b><\/h3>\n

Nashville has been clear, they value Fabbro. That said, the Lightning will have to overpay. He\u2019s on his way to having a career-year offensively, with six points in 18 games so far. His best season on offence was last year, with 11 in 64 games. If he played 64 games this season and stayed on his current 0.33 point per game pace, he\u2019d score 21 points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Negotiations would have to start with a first-round pick, and lucky for the Lightning, they still have their 2021 first. They also need to shed salary, and for Nashville, they would probably want to take a right-shot defender back as a plug-and-play option to fill in for Fabbro. Jan Rutta, at $1.3 million, fits that mould. The Lightning have a surplus of NHL forwards on their roster, with Volkov finding some consistency at this time, Alex Barre-Boulet<\/a> <\/strong>and Ross Colton<\/a><\/strong> had successful NHL debuts, and Gemel Smith<\/a> <\/strong>has filled in admirably. Throwing in Volkov could provide some value. Volkov has been okay in Tampa, but his game isn\u2019t really built for a bottom-six role.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In total, that\u2019s Alex Volkov, Jan Rutta and a 2021 1st round pick for Dante Fabbro. Would that get it done? Probably not, but this is an option on the board for the Lightning, and if last year’s trade deadline was any indication, Julien BriseBois is not afraid to be aggressive. So, that idea would likely be a good initial offer. But, if Nashville stays true to their statements so far, they\u2019ll demand more from the Lightning than that. Only time will tell.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NHL rumours are in full force already this season. The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the market for a right-handed defenseman. Per Last Word\u2019s rumour piece on February 25th, Nashville could be involved. Here\u2019s what could happen NHL Rumours: Nashville and Tampa Potential Deals The Nashville Predators are in the worst position, and potentially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3602,"featured_media":102140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4547,2,31,4548,9],"tags":[6597,2057,1742,3444,3885],"class_list":["post-102127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-featured","category-predators","category-nhl","category-lightning","tag-alex-volkov","tag-dante-fabbro","tag-jan-rutta","tag-matt-benning","tag-nhl-trade-rumours"],"modified_by":"Oscar Elieff","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3602"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}