To Trade Or Keep Mikael Granlund
Adam Vingan of The Athletic: While Mattias Ekholm stays more than likely in Nashville, the Mikael Granlund dilemma is a little different. Last season, Nashville kept Granlund and he did nothing. This year, the winger is performing well, what does Nashville do?
On an expiring and reasonable contract ($3.75 million AAV), Granlund provides value. He has nine goals and 16 assists in 36 games. Those are respectable numbers. Also, Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Ellis may be as little as 10-14 days from returning. That makes Granlund more expendable.
Granlund has taken more of a leadership role, been a good penalty killer, and excellent in front of the net on the man advantage. Nashville can always flip smaller pieces like Erik Haula or Nick Cousins. Toronto has an interest in Granlund and several others teams as well. David Poile has a decision to make and a bigger one than expected.
Mattias Ekholm likely not for sale
Alex Daugherty of A To Z Sports Nashville: The rise of the Nashville Predators in the standings meant David Poile could up the asking price on Mattias Ekholm. It indicates, unlike Mikael Granlund, that Ekholm is likely not for sale. Asking for a first-round pick in this market with a prospect and on the cusp NHL’er is a lot.
From the Winnipeg Jets’ side of things, Ville Heinola is a future number one defenseman in the NHL. For Winnipeg to give up a first, then Heinola and a prospect seem like a steep price. Kevin Cheveldayoff has said that Heinola is a deal-breaker. They will not move him for anything.
So, basically, Mattias Ekholm is not going anywhere come April 12th. More and more it looks like Mikael Granlund may not either. If anything, Nashville and David Poile expect to either stand pat or maybe add a little depth. That is definitely a huge change from where things stood four weeks ago.
