Insider: Predators Have “No Choice” But To Listen To Offers on Saros

With just one season left after this one on goaltender Juuse Saros' 4-year, $5 million AAV deal, the Nashville Predators have been pretty adamant that Plan A this summer is to extend the face of the franchise, to keep him in Nashville for the long term. 

But according to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun on TSN's Insider Trading, because of the way this season is unfolding around the league, it's at least possible that they could be playing a different tune in Music City by the trade deadline:

What has changed since the start of the year is the number of teams that are desperate to upgrade their goaltending, and because of that I'm told that the Predators feel they have no choice but to listen if a team puts in a serious, serious offer.

What I mean by that is, don't throw a couple of first-round picks which would be in the low 20s at the Predators, that's not going to get (GM Barry)Trotz to blink. Let's take LA as an example: if they threw in a name like (former No. 2 overall pick) Quinton Byfield as part of a package, that would get the attention of the Nashville Predators.

Whether he just picked Byfield's name out of the blue or not is unclear, but there are other teams that LeBrun is alluding to that are certainly "desperate to upgrade their goaltending," like the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs, among others. Goaltending chatter around the league has definitely been a big talking point around trade rumors this season. 

LeBrun concludes by reminding us that the Preds still have every intention of extending Saros, but it's still a situation to "monitor" as we head up to the trade deadline on March 8th, to see if one of those "serious, serious offers" comes along. 

Saros, one of the top netminders in the league for years now, is having another strong season, with a 2.96 goals against and a .903 save percentage. In nine NHL seasons in Nashville, he has a career 2.62 GAA and .918 Sv% with a 165-111-28 record.

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