There is starting to become a strong belief that the Nashville Predators are going to be trading some of their players in the not too distant future. Nashville sits dead last in the Central Division with 24 points, and have veteran assets teams could be interested in. The top player at this time seems to be Predators forward Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario. At 35 years of age, Stamkos is in the second year of a four-year contract worth $32 million. He is making a whopping $8 million per year.
Stamkos in 2025-26
In 2025-26, Stamkos has eight goals and three assists for 11 points in  27 games. He is a -8 with 20 penalty minutes, two power-play points, three game-winning goals, 50 shots on goal, 91 faceoff wins, 11 blocked shots, 21 hits, 10 takeaways, and 26 giveaways.
Playing himself off the Canadian Olympic team
For many years there was speculation that when the NHL players went back to the Olympic Games, that Steven Stamkos would receive significant consideration. However, there appears to be zero chance of that happening now. The reason is ever since Stamkos left the Tampa Bay Lightning where he had a remarkable career, he and many of his Predators teammates have been terrible defensively the last two seasons. Stamkos in particular is a -44 in 109 games.
Why the Devils may actually show interest
Over the last 24 hours, there has been speculation that Stamkos could be on the move to the New Jersey Devils. One NHL insider fuelling the speculation is Pierre LeBrun of TSN. He has stated that there have been internal talks and the Devils were interested in signing Stamkos as a free agent two years ago, before the future Hall of Famer chose the Predators instead.
At first glance, you would think that Stamkos would never go to the Devils, because of New Jersey’s strong emphasis on defensive structure. However, the Devils actually have a history on acquiring players who have struggled defensively.
Om February 4, 2010, the Atlanta Thrashers traded Russian star Ilya Kovalchuk of Tver, Russia to the Devils. Kovalchuk had 615 points in 594 games with the Thrashers and was a shooting machine in his time in Atlanta. He actually led the NHL with 41 goals and 341 shots on goal in 2003-04, and 27 power-play goals in 2005-06. However, from 2001 to 2010, Kovalchuk was seen as a one-dimensional European floater. He struggled mightily in his own end and was a -84 during eight seasons playing professional hockey in Georgia as a result.
Then on February 26, 2023, the Devils acquired winger Timo Meier of Herisau, Switzerland. He was a -37 in 451 games with the Sharks and was a -22 in 2019-20. However the Devils liked Meier’s offensive upside (35 goals in 2021-22) and took a chance.
