It was a bold decision for the Nashville Predators to move on from Mattias Ekholm last season as he played great for the team throughout his career and only seemed to get even better on his new team, the Edmonton Oilers.
This is one trade we have to look back on and think about what could have been if he stuck around. The Predators have more than enough cap space, and without Tyson Barrie, would have Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, and Ekholm all in the top-four. I can almost guarantee that there wouldn't have been a 5-10-0 start, but there also wouldn't have been lower expectations coming into this season because of how strong the back-end would have been. even more so than they are when healthy this season.
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Since Ekholm was traded to the Oilers, he has a plus-47 goal differential at five-on-five, placing him first in the entire league during that period. This is more than him just playing for a good team. He transformed the back-end of the Oilers and their late-season run started with his arrival. Not only that, but once he was in the lineup and healthy at the start of this season, the Oilers' fortunes started to change.
Ekholm has a 61 xGF% at five-on-five as well, which is among the best in the league. He has done with Evan Bouchard what he once did for Dante Fabbro and Alexandre Carrier, helping younger defensemen develop at the NHL level, something that would still be great to have on the Predators.
The veteran has never been an elite offensive defenseman, but in a good season offensively, he typically finishes in the low-30s in points. This is on top of his presence on the back-end, physicality, and drive. Ekholm's numbers indicate that the Predators actually traded away a true top pairing defenseman and one of the top d-men in the league. And when he wants to turn it on, he will be one of the most noticeable players all over the ice as he has three goals, seven points, and is a +7 in the past four games for the Oilers.
It is unfortunate for the Predators that the return the team got for Ekholm will likely never match the value he is bringing to the Oilers, and for another two years after this one. At the same time, it is good to see Ekholm having so much success at 33 years old as well.
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