Came in here hoping Nail Yakupov would be somewhere but was disappointed.

Ekholm being moved from Nashville may be possible but the Preds have center depth and don't need Eakin. A top 6 winger and a 1st would make sense especially that it looks like NASH will lose Smith or Jarnkrok in expansion.

The Tanev deal is junk for VAN. The difference between Tanev and Johns is not 2 spaces in a weak draft. NSH will probably just got 4-4 and risk losing someone. This just doesn't work for them.

Man I hope not

disagree. I think the Preds could use centers since they probably lose one to Vegas. Plenty of young guys in the AHL that are capable of playing wing or center but I'd have to think they'd want a better center than Eakin if moving a defenseman

I figured it would take Eakin or Faksa, both are C, but both are also versatile enough to play any forward position. There are several questions at forward after this season for Nashville, so figured a versatile forward + a 1st rd'er would be a good deal since they're so stacked at D. Plus this keeps them compliant for the expansion draft, and better allows them to go with the 7-3-1 option. Pretty good return for an original 4th rd pick, Nashville deserves a ton of credit for their scout teams.

Tanev has certainly turned into a pretty good player having been originally undrafted, agreed that Johns hasn't reached his 2nd rd potential yet, but when he does he potentially could surpass Tanev's effectiveness. There's a lot of belief Johns will be a regular strong contributor at the NHL level, and perhaps as soon as next season. The draft might turn out better than you think, true there's no headliners like the previous 2 years, but a guy like Heiskanen could end up being Alec Martinez (LA). With Vancouver being in the spot they're in, I believe they'd listen, but that doesn't mean the deal wouldn't have to be altered to what I proposed (I'm not a GM yet lol). Appreciate the comments.