{"id":474475,"date":"2025-09-18T20:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=474475"},"modified":"2025-09-18T20:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:03:13","slug":"nhl-rumours-update-on-nashville-predators-rfa-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/09\/18\/nhl-rumours-update-on-nashville-predators-rfa-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Update on Nashville Predators RFA Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for some more NHL rumours. We&#8217;re closing in on the start of training camp. However, there are a number of unanswered questions heading into the start of the hockey season. The chatter has <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/09\/11\/nhl-rumours-and-the-latest-on-the-minnesota-wild-superstar\/\" target=\"_self\">mostly revolved around<\/a> players that are set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1 if they don&#8217;t re-sign. However, we&#8217;ve got plenty to discuss when it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/08\/10\/nhl-rumours-update-on-key-nashville-predators-rfa\/\" target=\"_self\">restricted free agents.<\/a> A few players have signed deals, but there are some RFAs that haven&#8217;t signed as of yet.<\/p>\n<p>One player who has a key RFA is the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/07\/22\/top-nashville-predators-defining-moments\/\" target=\"_self\">Nashville Predators.<\/a> This edition of NHL rumours deals with how talks are progressing with that key young player and the Predators.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Nashville Predators, Key RFA Far Apart in Contract Talks<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: We have the latest information on the status of talks between the Predators and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/evanglu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Evangelista<\/a>, who remains unsigned.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">INSIDER TRADING\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Waiting game on McDavid<br \/>&#8211; Wild still focused on signing Kaprizov<br \/>&#8211; Jets\/Connor trending towards extension<br \/>&#8211; Latest on Stolarz\/Leafs; Devils\/Luke Hughes: McTavish and Evangelista<\/p>\n<p>WATCH: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6iwqzUi0gS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/6iwqzUi0gS<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/si4dnO9AHh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/si4dnO9AHh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSNHockey\/status\/1968075373067042979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 16, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis:<\/em> The first source we go to is <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.tsn.ca\/nhl\/article\/insider-trading-waiting-game-continues-on-mcdavid\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TSN&#8217;s Insider Trading<\/a> and Chris Johnston said that the two sides are far apart. Camp is slated to start soon, but it doesn&#8217;t like Evangelista will be in the fold for the start of it.<\/p>\n<p>The report of him not attending camp came from The Fourth Period&#8217;s David Pagnotta. He added that the Predators are looking to sign the 23-year-old to a long-term deal. The insider that<a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheFourthPeriod\/status\/1968689721099366636\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> the ask is a reasonable one,<\/a> but the term seems to be the sticking point.<\/p>\n<p>Evangelista supplied 10 goals and 22 assists for 32 points in 68 games last season in Nashville. The second-round pick of the 2020 NHL Draft figures into the plans for general manager Barry Trotz and head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunean01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andrew Brunette<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nashville starts its season on October 9 against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/09\/08\/2025-25-puck-drop-preview-columbus-blue-jackets\/\" target=\"_self\">Columbus Blue Jackets.<\/a> However, one wonders if the situation will play out like how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/swaymje01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-09-18_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Swayman<\/a>&#8216;s did with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/07\/01\/rfa-defenceman-joins-boston-bruins\/\" target=\"_self\">Boston Bruins.<\/a> The goalie missed training camp and the start of the season in 2024-25. Missing camp could have played a hand in the Alaskan goalie&#8217;s struggles.<\/p>\n<h4>What It Means<\/h4>\n<p>Pagnotta also added that talks have been &#8220;tumultuous&#8221; between the two sides. Negotiations can sometimes get testy, but one wonders if there could be some acrimony when all is said and done.<\/p>\n<p>Evangelista is young and hasn&#8217;t had a season above 40 points, but the Predators like his game. It wasn&#8217;t a pleasant campaign in 2024-25 for Nashville and the team may lean on younger players like Evangelista if things go south once again.<\/p>\n<p>The Predators<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/09\/16\/puck-drop-preview-nashville-predators\/\" target=\"_self\"> came in last season<\/a> with a ton of buzz. However, a bad start doomed the team to finishing with the third-worst record in the league. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/09\/16\/2025-26-puck-drop-preview-nashville-predators\/\" target=\"_self\">Another stumble<\/a> out the gate could result in younger players like Evangelista and others getting more prominent spots in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p>It does seem that a number of players are trying to get mid-range deals to coincide with the rising salary cap. One can&#8217;t blame a player for wanting to get maximum value. However, the teams want to know how to move forward before the start of training camp.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo by: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for some more NHL rumours. We&#8217;re closing in on the start of training camp. However, there are a number of unanswered questions heading into the start of the hockey season. The chatter has mostly revolved around players that are set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1 if they don&#8217;t re-sign. However, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":440194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_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":[31,4547,34,4548,4321],"tags":[7030,1500,4758,6987,5983],"class_list":["post-474475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predators","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-andrew-brunette","tag-barry-trotz","tag-jeremy-swayman","tag-luke-evangelista","tag-nashville-predators-rumours"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474475","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\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474490,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474475\/revisions\/474490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}