Predators sign O'Reilly and Schenn away from the Maple Leafs.
The Nashville Predators cleared up some cap room and have now used it to take some key players away from the Maple Leafs.
Earlier today in a pair of reports I touched on the fact that both veteran forward Ryan O'Reilly and veteran defenseman Luke Schenn were expected to depart from the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency.
In the case of Schenn it sounds like the Maple Leafs have simply been outbid for his services and, given what we now know, it would appear that the same may have been true for O'Reilly.
We now know that both men were lured away from Toronto by the same organization, the Nashville Predators led by newly appointed general manager Barry Trotz. Trotz has signed Schenn to a three year deal that will carry an average annual value and salary cap hit of $2.75 million per season while O'Reilly on the other hand will be receiving a four year deal at an average annual value and cap hit of $4.5 million per season.
That is considerable term and money for both players at this stage of their careers, but the Predators have freed up considerable cap space this summer already and it is now clear that Trotz intends to weaponize that to his advantage.
These two solid additions for the Predators will now leave newly appointed Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving with a pair of significant holes on his roster to fill.
