Predators Eye Canadiens Depth as Nashville Seeks Trade Deadline Help

The Nashville Predators entered January as one of the Western Conference's strongest teams, but a recent skid has forced general manager David Poile to think about reinforcements earlier than expected. After opening the new year with five straight wins, the team has stumbled badly—going winless in four of their last ten games with a 5-3-2 record in that stretch. That collapse has cost them dearly in the standings. They've dropped from first place in the Central Division to third, leapfrogged by both the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. With the trade deadline still roughly two months away, Poile faces a choice: wait and see if the team steadies itself, or act now to shore up the roster. One obvious place to look is Montreal.

The Canadiens have become a seller's market almost by accident. After their improbable run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, the team has cratered this season, sitting at the bottom of the NHL standings with an 8-25-5 record. New general manager Kent Hughes and executive vice president Jeff Gorton have inherited a rebuild, which means Montreal's roster is suddenly full of players available for the right price. For Nashville, that opens a door. The Predators need depth—particularly on the blue line—and Montreal has several defensemen who could fill that need without requiring Nashville to part with its most valuable assets.

Ben Chiarot sits at the top of that list. He joined Montreal in 2019-20 and became a cornerstone of their defense, playing heavy minutes alongside Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson. Chiarot can play both left and right side, a versatility that makes him especially valuable. He brings physicality, gap control, and the ability to log time on both the power play and penalty kill. The catch is straightforward: he's an unrestricted free agent after this season, which means he's a rental. Still, for a team trying to win now, that rental could be worth the cost.

Artturi Lehkonen presents a different kind of opportunity. The Finnish forward signed a one-year deal worth $2.3 million after impressing in last year's playoffs, and he's performed consistently in Montreal's bottom six this season with four goals and 12 points in 34 games. His defensive awareness is sharp, and he plays with the kind of effort that translates well to penalty-killing situations. Nashville's third line, built around Colton Sissons, Tanner Jeannot, and Yakov Trenin, has been productive, but the fourth line could use an upgrade. Lehkonen fits that profile. The complication is his status as a restricted free agent—Hughes and Gorton control his rights for another season, which gives them leverage to demand a first-round pick or a high-end prospect. That's a steeper price, and Poile will have to decide whether to spend draft capital on a depth forward.

Brett Kulak rounds out the defensive targets. He's further down the priority list, but he has proven value. In the 2020 playoff bubble, Kulak paired with Jeff Petry to effectively shut down Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh's offense. Like Chiarot, he's a left-handed defenseman who can play both sides, though he's better suited to the bottom pairing. His offensive numbers are modest—eight points in 33 games this season—but that's not why Nashville would want him. He'd serve as depth insurance, someone who can step in when injuries or COVID-19 protocols hit, without putting the team at a disadvantage.

The Predators' recent struggles have made the case for action urgent. Mattias Ekholm is returning from COVID-19 protocol, and Dante Fabbro is expected back from an upper-body injury soon, which should stabilize the blue line. But Poile has a window to make calls to Montreal's front office and other sellers before the deadline. He has the currency to work with—draft picks and prospects—but the real question is how much he can tinker without disrupting the chemistry that made Nashville a first-place team just weeks ago. The next few weeks will reveal whether Poile believes this slump is temporary or a sign that the roster needs reinforcement.