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The Nashville Predators made two big moves on deadline day. General Manager David Poile is considered by many around the league as a gunslinger who is not afraid to make the big move to improve his team.
Who can forget the Shea Weber for P.K. Subban trade in the summer of 2016? Or the Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen trade just six months before that?
Whether or not you are a fan of the Preds, you have to admire Poile's willingness and ability to make the big deal happen in crunch time.
Monday afternoon, just moments before the NHL Trade Deadline officially passed and teams were no longer allowed to make deals, Nashville jumped for two big-name forwards to help aid in a Stanley Cup run.
The first trade of the day was acquiring Mikael Granlund from the Minnesota Wild for forward Kevin Fiala. Granlund at 26 and Fiala at 22 seems like a pretty fair swap. Unfortunately for Granlund, he was traded while his wife was in labor this afternoon according to Wild GM Paul Fenton.
Granlund has performed at a high level since entering the league back in 2012 after being drafted by Minnesota. After playing just 27 games in his first official season, Granlund has played over 60 games and contributed over 30 each season.
This year, he has 15 goals to go along with 34 assists in 63 games.
Kevin Fiala has struggled to be the impact player the Predators wanted him to be since breaking his leg in the playoffs in 2017. After 23 goals last season, Fiala has just 10 this year with 22 assists and a -11 plus/minus.
The other trade Poile made on deadline day was acquiring forward and well-known veteran Wayne Simmonds from the Philadelphia Flyers for Ryan Hartman and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft.
The 30-year-old has been in Philly for seven seasons now and has been a regular goalscorer and playmaker.
The trade sees Nashville upgrade the powerplay unit which they have desperately needed for months now. The Preds are last in the league on the powerplay scoring on just 12.6 percent of man advantages.
Granlund is a great passer and will slot into the second line with Kyle Turris very nicely. Simmonds, on the hand, will likely be looked at as the creator on the powerplay. Instead of running the PP through Johansen or Subban, Simmonds will now take charge.
These two trades don't hurt Nashville long term and significantly improves them short term. A run at the Stanley Cup is now a legitimate possibility.
