Thomas Novak to the Leafs

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Nashville is dead last in the league and they are clearly retooling, I won't call it rebuilding I don't see it as rebuilding.

But they are certainly being aggressive and making moves and very few seem to be safe.

Leafs biggest need is a 3rd line center and one of the guys I think they should target is Novak.

I'm willing to Bet Barry is willing to move Novak because he seems to be willing to move everybody.

So What do you think a Novak deal looks like?

 

[Armourboy]

Nashville is dead last in the league and they are clearly retooling, I won't call it rebuilding I don't see it as rebuilding.

But they are certainly being aggressive and making moves and very few seem to be safe.

Leafs biggest need is a 3rd line center and one of the guys I think they should target is Novak.

I'm willing to Bet Barry is willing to move Novak because he seems to be willing to move everybody.

So What do you think a Novak deal looks like?

My guess is he would probably be looking for some form of a hockey trade with Novak, kind of a one for one type deal where both players just need to be somewhere else.

Although who knows, Trotz may be more than happy just to take random 23 yr old if you take the contract like he did with Carrier.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I agree, my ask would be a hockey style trade or even adding to Novak to improve the return...as far as what Barry is looking for, nobody has a damn clue. He's already waived or moved guys he just signed, so clearly Novak is not safe with a new deal.

Us Nashville fans are just watching things unfold without any idea of what the plan is.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I agree, my ask would be a hockey style trade or even adding to Novak to improve the return...as far as what Barry is looking for, nobody has a damn clue. He's already waived or moved guys he just signed, so clearly Novak is not safe with a new deal.

Us Nashville fans are just watching things unfold without any idea of what the plan is.

I'm going to be honest, as an outside fan I don't think there is a plan, I just think he's throwing shit at the wall and hoping it sticks.

Now that I'm thinking about it that saying is nonsense why would you want shit sticking to your walls?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

The Preds don't seem to have a plan for Novak this year. Which is weird, because they really need a #2C with offensive skill, and he was doing pretty ok with that the previous two seasons. Hence they gave him that $3.5M contract. He has been a nice organizational success story, one of the rare cases where an internally-developed forward has actually EXCEEDED all expectations. 88pts in 122 games the previous 2 seasons is pretty good production, especially given the team he was on and the players he has played with.

So it's really weird, after he gave us some nice unexpected production and got rewarded with a 3-year contract... now he's suddenly persona non grata almost at times? I can't figure it out. He's 27 now, so you can't even lump him in with the younger forwards we've been sidelining this year (Tomasino, Parssinen, Evangelista).

He's not fully ideal as a center, but c'mon, the Preds are a wasteland for offense up the middle and always have been, so I think you can take a few warts here and there. Novak has no physicality, isn't great defensively or on draws. But he has good offensive IQ and makes good quick plays with the puck on his stick. If he was your #2C you'd probably always wish for a little more. So I get the Preds are wishing for a little more. But guess what, in the meantime we actually don't have anything more, so ostracizing him and bouncing him around the lineup isn't really accomplishing anything other than tanking his trade value.

I think the Preds would basically "give him away" right now. He's clearly not in the team's plans anymore. Which is so weird right after signing him to that contract. I guess we're seeing a fair bit of that lately under Trotz...

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The Preds don't seem to have a plan for Novak this year. Which is weird, because they really need a #2C with offensive skill, and he was doing pretty ok with that the previous two seasons. Hence they gave him that $3.5M contract. He has been a nice organizational success story, one of the rare cases where an internally-developed forward has actually EXCEEDED all expectations. 88pts in 122 games the previous 2 seasons is pretty good production, especially given the team he was on and the players he has played with.

So it's really weird, after he gave us some nice unexpected production and got rewarded with a 3-year contract... now he's suddenly persona non grata almost at times? I can't figure it out. He's 27 now, so you can't even lump him in with the younger forwards we've been sidelining this year (Tomasino, Parssinen, Evangelista).

He's not fully ideal as a center, but c'mon, the Preds are a wasteland for offense up the middle and always have been, so I think you can take a few warts here and there. Novak has no physicality, isn't great defensively or on draws. But he has good offensive IQ and makes good quick plays with the puck on his stick. If he was your #2C you'd probably always wish for a little more. So I get the Preds are wishing for a little more. But guess what, in the meantime we actually don't have anything more, so ostracizing him and bouncing him around the lineup isn't really accomplishing anything other than tanking his trade value.

I think the Preds would basically "give him away" right now. He's clearly not in the team's plans anymore. Which is so weird right after signing him to that contract. I guess we're seeing a fair bit of that lately under Trotz...

I agree I don't think there is a plan, I just think that Barry is treating the Preds like I would in NHL 25, but even in NHL 25 I generally don't just do random shit.

He's doing random shit, because f*** it.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I agree I don't think there is a plan, I just think that Barry is treating the Preds like I would in NHL 25, but even in NHL 25 I generally don't just do random shit.

He's doing random shit, because f*** it.

I don't think it's quite that. We listen to him talk, and he talks a lot. He really seems to be passionate and feels like he has a vision. He really did think all his moves were going to turn the Preds into mini-contenders THIS SEASON. He really really thought that. And he really believes in standing behind whatever his coach wants to do. He wants to just keep propping up Brunette's weird ideas at basically any cost, because he feels he has the right coach and he believes a GM should ALWAYS support his coach.

So really, he's just not competent. I don't think he has any other agenda than believing he can turn the Predators into Stanley Cup Champions with the stuff he's doing. But coupled with that, "The Coach Is Always Right" + "Veteran Players >> Young Players ALWAYS" + "Team Identity = Veteran Players" + "Young Players Must Pay Their Dues First" + "Anybody Who Doesn't Want To Be Here, There's The Door" + "Middle/Lower Roster Young Players = No Value/Easily Replaced There's The Door".

He is GMing with a coach's mentality. No vision for maintaining player asset value or integrating youth. Protect the coach at all costs, players are interchangeable/disposable.