Ryan O’Reilly: The Predators decided today that they were ready to trade him.

Félix Forget
Ryan O’Reilly: The Predators decided today that they were ready to trade him.
Credit: Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images

We had a fairly quiet trade deadline in the NHL. Things picked up a bit at the end… but overall, the day will not go down in history.

Actually, I stand corrected: it will go down in history… for its lack of activity.

Among the factors that explain all this are sellers who were expected to sell but did not sell as much as expected. The Nashville Predators are a good example of this, as they did not trade Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Nick Perbix, or Ryan O'Reilly.
In the case of the latter, it felt a little more unlikely given that he didn't want to leave and the club wanted to respect his wishes. However, according to Chris Johnston, something has clearly changed in the last few hours… because today the Preds decided they were ready to trade him. His name was floating around… but the club didn't get what it wanted for him, so he stayed in Nashville.

One might think, for example, that putting it on the market a little earlier would have helped the Predators get their price. The teams that considered him were probably busy with other matters and didn't have time to turn their attention to O'Reilly.

Is he the one, l? Not impossible.

We know that the veteran, even though he doesn't have a no-trade or no-movement clause, has the luxury of deciding his future in Nashville. The Preds treat him as if he had such a clause… and they won't trade him if he doesn't want to leave.

Did his name come up because he gave the Predators the green light to find him a new destination? It's not out of the question.

One wonders if O'Reilly, who has another year left on his $4.5 million contract, could be traded during the summer. After all, if his name was circulating this summer, it's possibly because he mentioned to the Predators that he's now ready to leave.

This will be an interesting story to follow in the coming months.


In brief

– Makes sense.

— One to watch. A quiet Friday evening at the St-Laurent Sports Complex for the friendly match between @fcsupraquebec and @Csstlaurent_pro.

Supra's starting XI (4-3-3):

Kwemi-Kane-Kaboré
Mlah-Correa
Boughanmi
Catavolo-Yeo-Goulet-Auguste
Milli pic.twitter.com/wW1SgxyGjb

— Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) March 7, 2026

— Interesting.

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