Five likely GM candidates for the Nashville Predators
Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean: After four months of their GM search, there is still no front-runner for the Nashville Predators search. Both internal and external are in the running, and they hope to have someone named by the NHL draft at the end of June.
Five likely GM candidates for the Predators:
Darren Yorke: assistant general manager, Carolina Hurricanes
Brett Peterson: assistant general manager, Florida Panthers
Bill Scott: assistant general manager, Edmonton Oilers
Evan Gold: assistant general manager, Boston Bruins
Ryan Martin: assistant general manager, New York Rangers
Where Does the Bruce Cassidy Saga Stand?
The Chicago Blackhawks may miss out on one of the three forwards at No. 4
Scott Power of The Athletic: After the draft lottery, the Chicago Blackhawks dropped back to the No. 4 slot. There’s a good chance forwards are picked in the top three, and that would leave a group of defensemen as the next tier – Carson Carels, Chase Reid, Alberts Smits and Keaton Verhoeff.
The Blackhawks have seven Dmen under 25 under contract – Artyom Levshunov, Sam Rinzel, Alex Vlasic, Wyatt Kaiser, Kevin Korchinski, Louis Crevier and Ethan Del Mastro. So, selecting another defenseman would create some future decisions. Levshunov and Rinzel are right-handed, so if picking a defenseman at No. 4, they may lean to the left-handed Carels.
GM Kyle Davidson:
“We’re looking for the best players and who is going to be the best, not right away, but long term and who is going to be the best fit,” Davidson said. “So there’s going to be competition if that’s the direction we go and we were to draft another defenseman, same thing if we draft another centerman or winger. It’s a competition.
“We want to be the best team we can be. The way we do that is by creating competition. Again, if we’ve got too many players we like, that’s a good problem to have and we’ll solve that one. Because again, good players are something that’s in high demand, so we can figure that out. We’re just looking for the best players, then we’ll find what the optimal mix is at the right time.”
Davidson added that he’s open to talking to teams about moving up or down in the draft.
Could the Maple Leafs Trade Down to No. 3, and Pleasing Auston Matthews
The Chicago Blackhawks could add a potential top-six forward if they sign and bring Roman Kantserov over from the KHL. Having the option to draft either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg would have only added to their top-six group, but that may not happen now at No. 4.
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