Despite remaining in the conversation for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are still expected to sell off a few pieces leading up to the trade deadline. In the most recent rendition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that the Predators are assessing the market for forwards Michael Bunting and Michael McCarron.
If Nashville ultimately trades Bunting, it’ll be the third consecutive year he’s been moved at the trade deadline. He was included in the 2024 trade that sent Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes and the 2025 deal that sent Thomas Novak to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Relatively recently, some pundits have equated Bunting’s perceived trade value to Kiefer Sherwood. Sherwood was recently traded from the Vancouver Canucks to the San Jose Sharks for a pair of second-round picks and a low-level prospect, without an extension in place. It’s not a direct comparison due to Bunting’s lower physicality compared to Sherwood. Still, they have fairly similar scoring contributions despite Bunting averaging nearly three minutes fewer per night.
Despite his 12-goal, 29-point campaign this season, there shouldn’t be any expectations for Bunting to contribute on a team’s top line, particularly a postseason-bound one. He is likely to enter the secondary market for contenders interested in players like Evander Kane.
Meanwhile, McCarron is much more of a physical presence that contending teams could use in their bottom-six. Throughout the last three years, McCarron has scored 20 goals and 46 points in 196 games with a 53.6% faceoff percentage, adding 439 hits.
Despite the value he could provide, he shouldn’t be too expensive to acquire. McCarron is a 30-year-old pending unrestricted free agent who’s only earning a salary of $900K. Any contending team looking to strengthen its fourth line ahead of the playoffs may consider a player like McCarron.