Chicago Blackhawks: 2019 NHL Draft grades for central division
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators have been the team to beat in the Central Division for a few years now. That might start coming back down to earth a little bit but they are still one of the elite teams in the Western Conference and they will go into the season with high expectations. They had a decent draft but a trade they made during the draft defines their draft grade and could leave some tall shoes to fill in the upcoming season.
In the first round, the Predators took a really good player. They nabbed Philip Tomasino who is a really good young prospect. He has playmaking ability to drive offense but he is also a really good goal scorer if he so chooses. This is a great forward prospect for the Predators who are normally known for drafting and developing defenseman.
Speaking of defenseman, they traded one of their star defenseman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils right before the second round was about to begin on Saturday morning. They were rumored to pull the trigger on trading Subban, but the Devils willing to take on all 9 million of his contract left the return with a lot to be desired. They only received Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, a second-round pick in 2019 and a second-round pick in 2020 for Subban. That is low return for a defenseman of Subban’s caliber, regardless of how much money he makes.
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The picks the predators made are fine, especially their first round pick and you know how good they are at developing defenseman they draft, but this Subban trade lowers their draft grade for me.