Chicago Blackhawks: 3 Nashville Predators free agents to snatch

The Chicago Blackhawks had the Detroit Red Wings back in their division this season but it didn’t have the same feel as their normal rivalry before Detroit moved to the Eastern Conference. The Wings also weren’t very good either which waters down the rivalry a little bit. It still felt like the Nashville Predators were their biggest rival this season. The St. Louis Blues weren’t there as they temporarily played in the West Division this year.

The Chicago Blackhawks couldn’t get by the Nashville Predators in 2021.

Nashville battled until the end with the Blackhawks and Dallas Stars for the final playoff spot and ended up taking it. It started to become obvious that the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers would be the top three in the division and Nashville deserves credit for making it in as the number four seed.

They were matched up with the number one seeded Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. They went down 2-0 on the road and then tied the series with two straight home wins. Unfortunately for Nashville, they lost two straight games which eliminated them from the postseason. Game six ended with Carolina scoring in overtime to take them down.

Now, Nashville has a lot of questions to answer as they go into the offseason. They are not as good as they were when they reached the Stanley Cup final in 2017 but they are certainly good enough to compete for the playoffs. They have some free agents coming off the books this year so it is going to be interesting to see what they decide in the end. There are some free agents for the Chicago Blackhawks to consider if Nashville doesn’t bring them back: