NHL Trade Rumors: Predators Must Trade Ryan Suter After Refusal to Sign New Deal

When Nashville Predators star defenseman told reporters in Ottawa during All-Star weekend that he would not sign an extension with his team before the February 27 trading deadline, the decision on whether to trade or keep him became much harder for general manager David Poile.

Despite the possibility that Suter could leave the Predators in the summer and the team would get nothing in return for him, Nashville seems willing to keep the star defenseman and make a deep run in the playoffs.

Per Philly.com:

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“The consensus among us is that Nashville will be hanging onto him, even if they know the odds are not in their favor of re-signing him,” one Eastern Conference GM told the Daily News on condition of anonymity. “If he does decide to trade him, [David] Poile has the market cornered. There are very few defensemen of Suter’s caliber in the league, and Nashville has two of them.

“You have to wonder whether the Predators can continue to trade away their top players for prospects because they can’t afford to pay them.”

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The Predators also have captain and defenseman Shea Weber to re-sign in the summer, but he is a restricted free agent. Weber and Suter are top-10 NHL defensemen (Weber arguably top-three), which makes signing them both long-term an expensive situation.

If Suter won't sign an extension before the trade deadline, doesn't it seem like he wants to move on?

The Predators are a good team and have strong goaltending and defense, but their lack of goal-scoring hurts them in every postseason. They won't make it to the Stanley Cup Final without adding a big-name scorer.

If Suter does become a free agent, expect the Detroit Red Wings to make a run at him. Legendary Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom could be playing in his final NHL season, and if he does retire, the team will have lots of salary-cap space and a big need on defense. Suter would be a fantastic replacement for Lidstrom in Detroit.

Any team with salary-cap space would want to sign Suter, but Detroit offers him the nice combination of a winning franchise, lots of money and a chance to be "the man" on defense.

If Nashville decides to trade Suter before the deadline, one team who will be very active in pursuing him will be the Philadelphia Flyers, who have been devastated this season by injuries to key defensemen such as captain Chris Pronger.

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen was one of the NHL's All-Stars this past weekend in Ottawa, along with Suter, and did his best to try to convince the upcoming free agent that Philadelphia would be a good place for him.

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“I told him that Philly is a nice town,” Timonen said with a smile. “He would probably enjoy Philly.”

“He’s going to take his time and see what’s going to happen,” Timonen said. “If he gets the money he wants, obviously he will stay there. You don’t know what’s going to happen, how much they’re going to spend, if they want to keep both of those two guys. He’s been there so long, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t want to stay there.”

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Suter is a franchise defenseman, but paying two blueliners $7 million or more per season long-term when you have little offensive firepower does not make sense for the Predators, even if ownership is willing to spend the money to sign both Suter and Weber.

Nashville needs to find a team, like the Flyers, that has good offensive depth that can give them a top-six forward in a deal for Suter. Without more offense, Nashville is nothing more than a team who can reach the second round of the playoffs.

The Predators have the best defenseman to dangle at the trade deadline, and there are many teams who would be interested and have a lot to offer Nashville in return for Suter. 

By publicly saying that he will not re-sign with the Predators before the trade deadline, the team must take the hint that Suter probably isn't going to sign in the summer either, and that trading him now is the best move for the franchise going forward.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.