The news came down yesterday evening that the Predators had acquired Kyle Turris from Ottawa. Then the news came down that they signed him to a six-year deal worth $36 million.
Oh and then we found out that Samuel Girard, Vladislav Kamenev, and a second round pick were headed to Colorado, that it was all part of a three-way trade with the Avalanche and Senators. The Sens ended up with Matt Duchene.
Everyone has a take on what this trade means and what they Preds gave up, so here are ours. Please add yours to the comments below!
Alex
This was a trade that had to happen. The Predators had been really struggling with offense at 5-on-5 and Kyle Turris should help alleviate some of those struggles. Playing last year mostly with Ryan Dzingel and Bobby Ryan, Turris finished with 32 points at 5-on-5 play. For reference, Ryan Johansen finished with 31.
Turris is an excellent passer and is more of a playmaking center than either Nick Bonino or Calle Jarnkrok. He won’t wow us with goal scoring ability (he’s a career 11.0% shooter) but he should do a good job of creating space for other offensive weapons. I would love to see him play with Scott Hartnell and either Kevin Fiala or Pontus Aberg.
It’s awful losing Girard… but it also hurt losing Seth Jones and Shea Weber. Time will only tell if this trade is as equitable as those were.
Rachel K
Looks like Nashville is all-in for the Cup this season!!!! All we need now is Eeli Tolvanen and a healthy Ryan Ellis. The only thing I know about Kyle Turris is from the 2017 Eastern Conference Final when I was scoping out the Preds’ potential opponent for the Final. I remember the announcer calling him “Tyle Kurris” and laughing my butt off. Let’s hope that spoonerism doesn’t happen in Nashville.
It’s now a “wait and see” game.
Marya
I’m conflicted on this trade only because we’ve spent the last twelve months rehashing every possible angle to get Matt Duchene a 2C to Nashville. Girard is a great prospect who can clearly play in the NHL, but Nashville already has similar assets under control. The coaching staff didn’t seem particularly enamored of Kamenev, either, and this pushes him all the way off the depth chart.
Kyle Turris has spent the past season being Ottawa’s defacto 1C and has very similar career per-game stats as Matt Duchene. No, it’s not the guy we’ve been instagram stalking, but the Preds didn’t give up anything that hurts their depth going forward, and he should be more than adequate as the playmaking center behind Johansen this team desperately needed.
Bryan
At first, I was really confused as to why we just traded our two best prospects to help another team pick up Matt Duchene. After letting the trade sit and after I said my mental goodbyes to Girard and Kamenev, I actually think this could work out fairly well.
Turris is a very good player and is almost exactly what we need on our team (imagine him with Craig Smith and Kevin Fiala.. yep, that might happen. He’s a goal scoring threat and can help open up the other four players on the ice. The Preds are in a win now mindset, and adding Turris to the team while removing players that haven’t consistently been playing in the lineup is a good thing if you’re trying to make a cup run.
George
This trade was a stunner. Like others, I was stung at first by the loss of Girard and Kamenev, but once I saw the $6×6 extension we gave Turris, my mind was put a little more at ease. He’s getting paid like Filip Forsberg, but as a center with production comparable to the Prince’s. In the last four seasons, Turris has put up 90 goals and 117 assists in 299 games, a per-82 rate of 25-32—57.
Another contributing factor was the state of center depth on Nashville and the defensive corps that is mostly locked up long-term. On the list of Predators signed to or past 2020 are Johansen, Bonino, Jarnkrok, Subban, Josi, and Ekholm. Further, Colton Sissons and Ryan Ellis have vice grips on roster spots at their respective positions until Summer 2019, and Dante Fabbro is waiting at Boston University. Even prior to the trade, there appeared to be little room for Girard or Kamenev on this roster.
This is the kind of trade that puts teams over the top. Turris is a center who can score goals and distribute the puck, something the Preds have needed for years. Sincere tip of the cap to David Poile here.
Adam Jazdewski (@LedgerSko)
At first blush I wasn’t thrilled with losing both Girard and Kamenev, but when I let it marinate for a few minutes it made perfect sense. Including Girard, the Predators had six defensmen in the pipeline with a legitimate chance at an NHL career (Dante Fabbro, Jack Dougherty, Frederic Allard, David Farrance, and Alex Carrier) If you look at their bios you’ll notice three of the five are right handed. Farrance and Carrier was a lefty like Girard, but the NHL has long put a premium on right handed defensemen, not necessarily lowering the return on Girard but more putting a cap on the upper limits of his worth outside the organization.
I’ve been pounding the table for a Duchene trade for the better part of two years. Being one of my favorite players not calling Nashville home, I wanted to see him donning the gold for the Preds. When the news broke last night that it would be Duchene going to Ottawa and Turris making his way to Nashville, I wasn’t as excited, but I also knew that meant that none of the Big 4 (Josi, Subban, Ellis or Ekholm) would be going anywhere. The price tag on Turris would be lower, and if a deal was to be commenced there had to be a Turris extension to go along with it. That’s exactly how it unfolded.
Over the last four years, Turris has averaged 57 points pro-rated over an 82 game season, doing so on a team lacking offensive punch outside of guys not named Erik Karlsson or Mike Hoffman. Turris just turned 28 in August; the six year extension will keep him in Nashville through his age 34 season. Knowing what we know about forward aging curves, expect diminishing returns on the back-end of his deal, but with this move its clear now more than ever that Nashville is making a run at the Cup while Pekka Rinne is still a #1 goaltender.
He’s had a nice start to this season as well with nine points in 11 games. Adding him to the Nashville roster will make the Preds much harder to defend. Laviolette now has the option of putting JOFA back together again without the heartburn of worrying about secondary scoring. Slotting in Turris with Fiala gives the Preds a viable second wave of attack. Both players are skilled with the puck and will play with some creative flair. Buckle up Preds fans, the team is going for it now!