Ryan Johansen Traded to Avalanche; Predators Will Pay 50% of 2-Year, $16M Contract

The Nashville Predators are paying the Colorado Avalanche to take Ryan Johansen off their hands.

New Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced Saturday that the team is acquiring Alex Galchenyuk from the Avs in exchange for Johansen.

As part of the deal, Nashville is paying 50 percent of Johansen's contract, which has two years and $16 million left on it.

The goal for Nashville in this deal seems to be just getting out of paying the entirety of Johansen's contract.

Galchenyuk, who only appeared in 11 games for Colorado last season, is set to become a free agent on July 1. He spent most of the year with the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche's AHL affiliate.

Nashville missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2013-14. Trotz, who was the team's head coach for its first 15 seasons, will officially take over as general manager on July 1 to replace the retiring David Poile,

Andrew Brunette was named the Predators' new head coach on May 31 after John Hynes was fired.

Harman Dayal and Sean Gentille of The Athletic noted the Predators have been making moves dating back to the trade deadline to move some of their veteran players on expensive contracts to clear cap space for the summer.

Johansen's $8 million cap hit in 2023-24 was tied with Matt Duchene for the third-highest on Nashville's roster before the deal.

The Predators signed Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million extension in July 2017 after he helped lead the team to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in the 2016-17 season.

Since setting a career-high with 64 points in 2018-19, Johansen's performance has dropped off. He did have another season with more than 60 points in 2021-22, but he's only had 86 combined points in the three seasons around that one.

Colorado will take a chance on Johansen returning to his old form by getting him in a new environment. He will likely slot in as the second-line center with Lars Eller set to become a free agent.