November 25, 2025 | 12:50pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

TROTZ SAYS HE ISN’T SELLING YET; PLAYERS HEARING NOISE

Jonathan Marchessault & Steven Stamkos, forwards

The Nashville Predators are last in the NHL and trade speculation continues to surround this squad as other teams are still calling about some of their players.

Veterans Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Michael Bunting and Erik Haula have been at the forefront of the trade chatter, with Bunting and Haula playing on expiring contracts.

In an interview Monday with ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski, Predators GM Barry Trotz admitted he’s spoken with other clubs about potential moves but is holding out hope his team turns things around.

“You hear this from a lot of teams: 'We’re looking for a top-six [forward].’ You know, I have a couple of top sixes,” Trotz said. “I’ve talked to their agents. I just want to get a feel for [things]. If we get this turned around, it’ll be fine. If we don’t, then maybe they want to say, 'Hey, I’m getting a little older, I want another crack at it. Can we do something?'”

Stamkos, who has two years remaining on his contract after this season and owns a full no-movement clause, has been hearing the rumours, but has phased them out, for the time being.

“If there’s a conversation be had, there’s a conversation to be had. But for me, it’s easy to just forget about that stuff,” he said. “I’ve got to come in here and do my job and try to get going here to help this team. And obviously it hasn’t gone well the first little bit.”

Trotz admitted teams have asked about Stamkos and Marchessault, and told him to circle back when the time comes, but that time isn’t now – “seven or eight games (from now) are going to be a good indicator” of what direction he takes, he said.

“When it’s not going well, I think that’s always something that comes up,” Predators captain Roman Josi told ESPN of the trade speculation. “It was a discussion two years ago. It was a discussion last year, too. But it’s still early. There’s a lot of time. I have a ton of belief in our team We can turn this around. Hopefully by the deadline we’ll be buying players and not selling.”

Meanwhile, while Trotz would not guarantee he won’t make a coaching change in-season, he noted a move behind the bench is not expected.

“A lot of factors go into my position,” he said. “You get different pressures from ownership or whatever. But I haven’t had any. So I’m sticking behind a coach that I believe in.”