Breaking: Predators have traded forward Ryan Johansen.

We knew the Nashville Predators were going to be doing some house cleaning in the offseason and the selling has started early!

According to an official announcement from the Nashville Predators, the team has traded veteran forward Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche.

The trade appears to largely be a 1 for 1 deal with the only piece coming back the other way for the Predators being veteran forward Alex Galchenyuk.

As a part of this deal the Predators are retaining 50% of Ryan Johansen's contract, which has an average annual value of $8 million with 2 more seasons remaining on that contract.

There have been many indications in the offseason that the Predators will be looking to move on from their aging core, a shift that one could argue was quite telegraphed when veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm was traded to the Edmonton Oilers earlier this year. The decision to trade Johansen in what is a pure salary cap dump, with Galchenyuk on an expiring contract, would appear to reinforce that fact.

Johansen is coming off what was a fairly forgettable season, one in which he amassed just 28 points (12 goals and 16 assists) over the course of 55 regular season games.