Chris MacFarland has made clear his plan for the future of the Nashville Predators following the start of NHL free agency.
On Wednesday, he traded for Dallas forward Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and signed Utah center Alex Kerfoot, Colorado defenseman Jack Ahcan and St. Louis defenseman Hunter Skinner.
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That’s also on top of signing center Jack Drury to a five-year, $22.5 million contract after trading for him on June 24, sending Zach L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov.
“We want to surround our young NHL players with character builders, guys that have seen winning, have touched winning, that know what it looks like,” MacFarland said. “They can teach these young guys what goes into that on and off the ice.
“Some of the players that we’ve added, like Jack Drury, Maverick Bourque and Ross Colton, they’ve seen what winning looks like, and they can certainly impart some things to our young guys.”
Bourque’s acquisition was MacFarland’s biggest win of the day. The Stars center logged 41 points in 82 games last season from their third line. His addition gives the Predators a massive boost from the middle of the lineup.
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MacFarland said that they are still hammering out the details on Bourque’s contract. He was previously signed to a one-year, $950,000 contract.
He’s an attractive, aged player who’s proven in this league at 24 years old,” MacFarland said on Bourque. “We believe he can play and be a good player in the middle of the ice. And I think that was probably the biggest draw for us…
“He’s a smart, heady hockey player. He’s a good two-way guy that we think the arrow is still pointing up for. We intend to give him every shot at playing in the middle.”
MacFarland also hinted at that the Predators are not done making roster moves.
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So far, Nashville has 15 forwards under contract and seven, possibly eight, defensemen. The Predators are likely looking to shrink some of those numbers and add more depth on the backend.
Ahcan and Skinner will likely play in Milwaukee. Lyubushkin is the only defensive acquisition that will likely earn a roster spot.
Nashville Predators Acquire Mavrick Bourque, Ilya Lyubushkin In Trade With Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators Acquire Mavrick Bourque, Ilya Lyubushkin In Trade With Dallas Stars Nashville bolsters its lineup by landing a prolific young scorer and a battle-tested veteran, sacrificing future draft capital to sharpen their competitive edge for the coming seasons.
“The back end is something that we want to find a little bit more puck skill and a little more transition as part of our game,” MacFarland said. “It’s not easy to do, right? As you can see by free agency, there weren’t a lot of those defensemen available. There’s a reason for that. Those are the hard-to-get assets.”
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What the Predators have gone out and done so far is build more stability in their bottom six.
Moving players like Erik Haula, who signed with the Kings, L’Heureux and Svechkov out made room for the Predators to trade for and sign veteran players who can give Nashville that spark from the third line.
Early projections have Drury centering Colton and Matthew Wood and Bourque centering the second line of Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault. On the fourth line, Kerfoot would be centering the newly acquired from the Vancouver Canucks Nils Hoglander and Joakim Kemell.
“You’re gonna need depth, right? This is a really hard league and injuries happen,” MacFarland said. “You’re gonna need a lot of players to get through a National Hockey League season. From (Jason) Blakey to Jamie Langenbrunner in the front office, competition is really, really important. It’s healthy. It raises the bar for everyone.
“The players are gonna tell us in training camp (who will make the roster), and then players are gonna have to tell us, again, in October and November, by their play.”
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