It looks like the Nashville Predators weren’t too happy with the trade they made with the Toronto Maple Leafs which brought Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to the team back in February. The Predators sent a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, Olli Jokinen and prospect Brendan Leipsic to acquire the duo in a late effort to improve Nashville’s Cup chances. Things didn’t work out as planned and now it sounds like the Predators are ready to move on.
Poile says the #Preds "probably not going to do anything" as far as signing Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli.
— Brooks Bratten 🍪 (@brooksbratten) May 30, 2015
That’s not an official answer from GM David Poile, but it’s about as concrete of an answer as you’ll see from an NHL general manager. Poile has already admitted that the deal – Franson in particular – wasn’t a perfect fit and that the Predators may have been guilty of making a trade just to make a trade. Both Franson and Santorelli are about to become unrestricted free agents and the Predators will likely focus their efforts elsewhere.
Though the Predators plan to move on from these two, they should be pretty active over the summer. The 2015-16 salary cap hasn’t been finalized, but the Predators currently should have about $30 million to work with the shape their squad into a more threatening Cup contender. The Preds may not spend up to the cap, but they will have a lot of decisions to make before the puck drops on 2015-16.
