The Predators
traded forward Viktor Arvidsson to Los Angeles
on July 1, goaltender Pekka Rinne
announced his retirement
less than two weeks later, and last Saturday,
defenseman Ryan Ellis was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers
as Nashville continued to make offseason changes that seemed inevitable this time around.
Jarnkrok is now on the move as well after the Preds chose to leave the 29-year-old unprotected ahead of the Expansion Draft, and his contributions will be missed in Nashville.
"I would be remiss if we didn't start this by thanking Calle Jarnkrok, for everything he did for the Predators organization," Preds General Manager David Poile said Thursday morning. "Calle was a real good acquisition from Detroit several years ago, played a lot of different roles for us, a very versatile player, played in all different areas of the game and he clearly will be missed by the Predators. We wish him and his family all the best in Seattle."
Poile and the Predators submitted their protection list over the weekend, electing to go with the eight skaters and one goaltender option. Five of those skaters - Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Dante Fabbro, Philippe Myers and Alexandre Carrier - were defensemen, while Filip Forsberg, Luke Kunin and Tanner Jeannot were the forwards chosen.
In particular, a young player like Jeannot was protected over a veteran like Jarnkrok, Poile said, with a bigger picture in mind. The GM has stated the organization will continue to transition to a younger lineup next season, and that vision continues now that the Expansion Draft has passed.
"Both of these players were not particularly ticketed to play a lot of games for us this year, and both of those players [ended up playing] very important parts in our team last year, especially in the second half of the season," Poile said of Carrier and Jeannot.
"There's a price to pay in expansion. Some teams, respectively, didn't have to give up as much as us… My final decision was that we had to protect our younger players. From a manager's perspective, I have to look at it in a two or three-year situation in terms of not only asset value but where I think [players] will be with their careers. I really believe that younger players like Carrier and Jeannot are just getting started… Again, I wish we would be able to keep [Jarnkrok], but I think there was a price for expansion. Everybody had to pay a certain price."
Poile also touched on a handful of unrestricted free agents and where the team stands with certain players. The GM said veteran forward Brad Richardson and veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson would "probably" not return to Nashville next season. Poile added he has had conversations with forwards Mikael Granlund and Erik Haula, but he expects all parties to "head into next week" and the start of the free agency signing period on July 28 to see where everybody stands.
