Incoming Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz is packing his dancing shoes for the 2023 NHL Draft, which will take place Wednesday and Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
After all, he hasn’t built up all this draft capital — the Predators have 13 picks this year — for nothing.
Question is, will he be able to find any partners?
“We’ve got lots of picks and I’m trying like hell to get a, say, top four or five pick,” Trotz told The Tennessean on Saturday after he traded Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche. “But you need a dance partner; teams are not going to give it to you.
“So I’m trying to make them uncomfortable with a lot of offers. They know there’s a franchise player in there.”
Trotz knows he has a less than 0% chance of prying Connor Bedard, the consensus No. 1 pick, from the Chicago Blackhawks. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t been and won’t continue to be on the phone with the teams that are slated to follow Chicago in picking order: the Anaheim Ducks, Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks and Montreal Canadiens.
Trotz would not be adverse to adding an offensive talent such as Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov, Will Smith or Leo Carlsson to his roster in exchange for some of that valuable draft capital, which includes two first-round picks (Nos. 15 and 24) .
Trotz has made it no secret of his appetite for offense. He’s said his team lacks — and always has lacked — an elite center. He said he wants his scouts to “take some big swings.”
“They have to be willing,” Trotz said of potential trade partners. “Unfortunately I haven’t been able to move that dial yet. At the same time I’m going to give us as many weapons as I can — young players, draft choices, cap flexibility — so we have a chance to, A) maybe get our hands on a player, there’s going to a team that’s going to be squeezed and maybe they give us a good player. Maybe I take on a $6 million (player) and they do some (salary) retention.
“I’m going to try to get us out of that window of just finishing in the middle.”
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz has eyes on top-5 pick at NHL Draft