Last week, the Nashville Predators made an interesting decision to move off Luke Evangelista, trading him to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a conditional 2028 first-round draft pick (originally from the Colorado Avalanche) and a 2028 second-round draft pick.
NHL Rumors: Nashville Predators Are Loaded for Future Moves
New GM Chris MacFarland is reshaping the roster, looking to bring in younger players to complement the older veterans former GM Barry Trotz signed a few summers back. Many thought a player like Luke Evangelista would be part of the future, given how Nashville moved off young players like Tommy Novak, Philip Tomasino, Eeli Tolvanen, Yaroslav Askarov, Zachary L’Heureux, Fedor Svechkov, Dante Fabbro, Samuel Girard, Yakov Trenin, and Alexandre Carrier.
Just look at the talent the Predators compiled under David Poile that a previous administration moved off of. Similarly, with MacFarland coming in, he wanted to see which players were in the system and whether the Predators could use them moving forward or trade them for assets.
But as Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff said on TSN Radio in Montreal, the trade is a little confusing, but the Nashville Predators want to see what Matthew Wood and Brady Martin are all about and didn’t want to deal with another contract issue with Evangelista.
And for the Predators, it’s more kind of confusing because you’re not quite sure which direction they’re going in. Obviously, I mentioned the new change in the hockey operations department. You would have thought that he would have been a part of that core, that they’ve actually drafted and developed quite nicely.
2026-27 Nashville Predators Season Preview
Matthew Wood and Brady Martin are two guys up front that you are kind of wondering what kind of impact they will have this season. So maybe they’re trying to move on from the old guard, and maybe that relationship had already been severed by the past regime, which new general manager Chris MacCarland didn’t want to deal with beyond the bridge deal he signed this last summer.
In a follow-up question, Di Marco was asked: Even with the Predators looking to get younger, doesn’t Luke Evangelista make sense to keep, even with the players coming in the pipeline?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “Anthony, it was weird to me, though, just taking a look at that trade from a Nashville perspective; their explanation was that they wanted to get younger and move in a different direction. Like, does Evangelista, who’s 24 years old and had a 40-plus assist season last year, does that not fit the bill?”
NHL Rumors: Are the Nashville Predators Done Making Moves This Offseason?
Anthony Di Marco: “Yeah, I do think it was a bit peculiar, but I think they are making way for this new batch to come in. Like they also traded Fedor Svechkov, if I’m not mistaken, in a deal for Jack Drury over this summer. I believe he was part of that package that brought Drury over from the Colorado Avalanche.
So maybe MacFarland is trying to get rid of those older draft picks and usher in a new wave because they’ve actually done a good job in the AHL. It’s run by Scott Nichol, who’s also their head of player development and an assistant GM with the Nashville Predators.
They’ve drafted fairly well, and let’s be honest, guys, Barry Trotz made some signings up front that are easier said than done to move on from, like Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Ryan O’Reilly. They made some pretty significant signings up front, and they need to kind of make room for their newer, younger players, like a Wood, like a Martin.
NHL Rumors: Are Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault Tradeable?
And they also have a kid that they drafted a few years ago, I believe, at the Montreal draft, Joakim Kemell. So I think that Nashville just has a lot of players coming up through their system. And some older players that probably are movable, but not for the right price tag.
So I think maybe for MacFarland, he was trying to juggle which young players to keep, which ones to move on from, and yes, 24 years old isn’t old. Isn’t old by any stretch, but it’s not as young as a 20- or 21-year-old.”
The Nashville Predators’ future direction will be determined by the team’s veterans. However, Nashville hopes what they have in their system is better than what Luke Evangelista can provide, as he was deemed expendable.
We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
If you love our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.
