This season has been a shocking start for the Nashville Predators, with the team struggling from the outset despite the additions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei over the summer.
Now, they are looking to change things up, especially in their forward group, as they traded 23-year old Philip Tomasino to the Pittsburgh Penguins this past week in a surprise deal.
On Wednesday they followed that up by adding another 23-year old, this time in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, as they have added former fifth-round draft pick Ryder Rolston.
The deal is for future considerations from Nashville, and one has to assume that they see plenty in the future of Rolston, who is yet to make his NHL debut despite being drafted in the 2020 NHL Draft.
In his first professional season with the AHL's Rockford Ice Hogs a year ago, Rolston posted 10 goals and 19 points in 62 games, but with just 1 goal in 6 games this season, his future in Chicago was quite murky.
With good size at 6-foot-2 however, the Predators see plenty of success in the future of Rolston, who now becomes a potential piece for their bottom-six moving forward in 2024/25.
It's unclear at this point what they are seeing, as many in Chicago won't be upset to see him go, but if they can get him on the right line with his blend of size and skill, he could produce at the NHL level.
With their early struggles, Nashville could push towards a rebuild if they can't turn things around, and if that's the case Rolston should get a shot at the next level, but for now, the team continue to try and turn things around early in the 2024/25 season.
POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 27 | 69 ANSWERS Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks Make Trade Involving Young Forward Was this a good acquisition for the Nashville Predators? | ||
Yes | 45 | 65.2 % |
No | 24 | 34.8 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Jakob Pelletier | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Noah Cates | 2 | - | 2 | |
Sam Reinhart | 2 | - | 2 | |
Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Rory Kerins | - | 2 | 2 | |
Mikael Backlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
Uvis Balinskis | 1 | - | 1 | |
Jake Bean | 1 | - | 1 | |
Connor Bedard | 1 | - | 1 | |
Louis Crevier | 1 | - | 1 | |
Morgan Frost | 1 | - | 1 | |
Garnet Hathaway | 1 | - | 1 | |
Connor McDavid | 1 | - | 1 | |
Kevin Bahl | - | 1 | 1 | |
Aleksander Barkov | - | 1 | 1 | |
Blake Coleman | - | 1 | 1 | |
Matthew Coronato | - | 1 | 1 | |
Leon Draisaitl | - | 1 | 1 | |
Jamie Drysdale | - | 1 | 1 | |
Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Golden Knights | 43 | 29 | 11 | 3 | 61 | |
Capitals | 43 | 28 | 10 | 5 | 61 | |
Jets | 44 | 29 | 12 | 3 | 61 | |
Wild | 44 | 27 | 13 | 4 | 58 | |
Oilers | 43 | 27 | 13 | 3 | 57 | |
Maple Leafs | 44 | 27 | 15 | 2 | 56 | |
Devils | 45 | 26 | 15 | 4 | 56 | |
Stars | 42 | 27 | 14 | 1 | 55 | |
Hurricanes | 44 | 26 | 15 | 3 | 55 | |
Kings | 41 | 24 | 12 | 5 | 53 | |
Conference | Cumulative |