The Nashville Predators needed cap space and easily managed to free some up by trading star defensemen P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils early Saturday morning. In return, the Devils send Steve Santini, Jeremy Davies and two second-round picks the other way to the Predators. Nashville doesn’t retain any salary from Subban’s contract as a result of the deal.
Subban spent his last three years at Bridgestone Arena with the Predators in Nashville, recording 40 points in year one, 59 points in year two and 31 points in his final season this year. While he has produced decently, the Predators could not afford his $9 million cap hit. They were rumoured to be willing to retain a certain amount to make a trade come to fruition.
As part of the deal, Nashville is getting Steve Santini from the New Jersey Devils, a 24-year-old defensemen from Bronxville, New York who has bounced around from the AHL and NHL over the last couple of years. They also get former Northeastern Huskies captain Jeremy Davies who is entering his first year in the pros. To add to that, they also receive two second-round draft picks, one in 2019 (#34 overall) and one in 2020.
P.K. Subban was acquired by Nashville back on June 29th, 2016 when they sent long time captain Shea Weber in a one-for-one deal the other way to Montreal.