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The Nashville Predators are buying and selling defenseman Mattias Ekholm and a sixth-round decide to the Edmonton Oilers, in accordance with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
In alternate, Nashville will obtain Tyson Barrie, Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round decide and a 2023 fourth-round decide.
The Predators are additionally retaining 4 p.c of Ekholm’s remaining wage, per The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.
The Oilers had been within the commerce marketplace for a defenseman for fairly a while, and TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Tuesday that, along with Ekholm, Edmonton had proven curiosity within the Arizona Coyotes’ Jakob Chychrun and Columbus Blue Jackets’ Vladislav Gavrikov.
LeBrun added that the Predators informed groups final week that the worth for Ekholm “began with two first-round picks.”
Ekholm is within the first season of a four-year, $25 million deal he signed with the Predators in October 2021. He has an annual cap hit value $6.25 million by the 2025-26 season, in accordance with CapFriendly.
The 32-year-old Swede had spent his complete 12-year profession in Nashville, which chosen him within the fourth spherical of the 2009 draft. By 57 video games this season, he has notched 5 objectives and 13 assists for 18 factors.
In 719 video games with the Predators, Ekholm has tallied 62 objectives and 206 assists for 268 factors. He additionally boasts a profession plus/minus of plus-104 and has averaged 21:48 of time on ice over 12 seasons.
Including Ekholm helps solidify the Oilers as probably the greatest groups within the Western Convention.
Edmonton already boasts the NHL’s greatest offense, averaging 3.80 objectives per sport because of the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Nevertheless, it desperately wanted some assistance on the blue line because it was additionally permitting 3.28 objectives per sport.
For comparability, the Boston Bruins, which lead the league with 97 factors, have scored 3.73 objectives per sport and are permitting simply 2.08 objectives per sport, proving they’ve the right mixture of scoring and protection wanted to win a title.
Ekholm will now anchor a defensive unit that additionally consists of Darnell Nurse, Cody Ceci, Brett Kulak, Philip Broberg and Evan Bouchard.
It is unclear if the Oilers, which sit third within the Pacific Division with a 32-21-8 document and 72 factors, will make any extra strikes forward of the NHL’s Friday commerce deadline.
Nashville, in the meantime, is in promoting mode because it sits fifth within the Central Division with a 29-22-6 document and 64 factors.
