Chris MacFarland's Predators: 9 trades and more coming

Nashville's new GM isn't just making moves. He's telling his veterans exactly what he's doing, before he does it.

Pierre LeBrun

@PierreVLeBrun

NEW for @TheAthletic, Nine trades and more to come. The new GM in Nashville has a plan to build a Cup contender that takes annual swings at it. That means more change is coming. The veteran players on the Predators appreciate the transparency from Chris MacFarland. ⤵️ Free to read. t.co/TC9yN4OI5y

For background, MacFarland was hired as Nashville's president of hockey operations and GM on June 2. He replaced Barry Trotz, who moved into an advisory role after saying in February that he planned to retire as GM. MacFarland came over after 11 seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, the last 4 as GM. Colorado made the playoffs in all 4 of those seasons and won the Presidents' Trophy last season. That's a guy who knows what a contender looks like, and he took a job that hasn't really had one lately.

Nine trades in about 4 months is a lot, and the part that jumps out is how open he's being about it. According to LeBrun, MacFarland told the veterans straight up that a slow start and no playoff spot could mean a lot of change. Players hate surprises more than they hate bad news, and the Preds' vets say they appreciate knowing where they stand.

That openness gets more interesting when you remember how MacFarland's biggest move in Colorado went down. The Mikko Rantanen trade was a franchise-shaking deal, and the way it played out did not leave the player feeling informed.

Cory Lavalette

@corylav

This sounds like a lot of lessons learned since MacFarland’s biggest trade in Colorado — the Rantanen deal — totally blindsided the player.

Pierre LeBrun@PierreVLeBrun

NEW for @TheAthletic, Nine trades and more to come. The new GM in Nashville has a plan to build a Cup contender that takes annual swings at it. That means more change is coming. The veteran players on the Predators appreciate the transparency from Chris MacFarland. ⤵️ Free to read. t.co/TC9yN4OI5y

That's a fair read. A GM who got burned by how a blockbuster landed with the player in it has every reason to do the next one differently. Telling a room full of veterans in October that nobody is safe is the opposite of blindsiding them. It also gives everybody in Nashville a deadline they can see coming.

Meanwhile the trade machine might already have a partner in mind. Arpon Basu watched the Preds beat the Canadiens while barely touching the puck for most of the night, and came away wondering whether these 2 clubs could do business.

Arpon Basu

@ArponBasu

I swear I did not know Pierre was writing this, but watching the Preds beat the Canadiens last night while barely touching the puck for the vast majority of the game, I wondered if these two teams could help each other get where they hope to go: t.co/4l6jPB93BF

Pierre LeBrun@PierreVLeBrun

NEW for @TheAthletic, Nine trades and more to come. The new GM in Nashville has a plan to build a Cup contender that takes annual swings at it. That means more change is coming. The veteran players on the Predators appreciate the transparency from Chris MacFarland. ⤵️ Free to read. t.co/TC9yN4OI5y

It makes sense on paper. Montreal is a young team trying to take the next step and has assets to move. Nashville is a team with a GM openly shopping for upgrades every season. Nothing is reported beyond Basu thinking out loud. But a GM with 9 deals already behind him, who is telling everyone more are on the way, is exactly who you'd expect to pick up the phone.

What to watch is the standings. MacFarland has made it clear a bad start means more change, so the first couple of months decide whether trade 10 is a buyer's move or the start of a teardown. Either way, Nashville is not standing still.