NHL Trade Deadline: Nashville Predators Make Big Push for Stanley Cup

As the late, great John Wooden once said, "Never mistake activity for achievement," though, in the case of Nashville Predators GM David Poile, the latter part of the statement figures to be more apropos to what he accomplished at the NHL trade deadline on Monday.

Poile had his hands all over the map in recent weeks—including a spot in the bidding war for Columbus Blue Jackets winger Rick Nash—and ultimately came up aces, adding Andrei Kostitsyn, Hal Gill and Paul Gaustad to a team that's currently holding down the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Not that the Preds' haul didn't come at a significant price. Gill cost the team two quality players (Blake Geoffrion and Robert Slaney) and a second-round pick, Kostitsyn two draft picks and Gaustad a first rounder.

Clearly, the Preds weren't afraid to mortgage their future a bit in pursuit of immediate contention, even in a conference loaded with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirants.

But Nashville's strategy has less to do with hoisting trophies now than it does with maintaining a corps that can compete for years to come. Poile's moves were intended to convince star defenseman Ryan Suter and Shea Weber to give the Music City a strong look before diving into free agency in the offseason. Thus, the Preds' acquisitions were, if nothing else, a show of good faith to Suter and Weber that the team is committed to winning now and giving its two stars a shot at ultimate hockey glory should they decide to stick around.

Sacrificing so many draft picks in one fell swoop is a risky strategy for any franchise, to be sure, but if the Preds are to achieve their primary goals—keep Suter and Weber, pursue a spot on the Cup—then this sort of aggressive activity will prove to have been nothing less than vital.

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