"I think I touched base with just about everybody in two and a half days I've been here," Poile said. "There [may be framework] to generate some form of a trade, and we're only a few days away now from free agency and that's another avenue that we're going to look at. I think our team is still pretty good. We're down a man losing James Neal at the Expansion Draft, and if we can get a top-six forward, that would probably be my first choice."
Poile is open to make a move, whether that be via trade or free agency, but one thing he won't be sacrificing in order to acquire more offense is a member of his top-four defensive core, namely P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm.
"We've traded enough defensemen in my recent history," Poile said. "I think everybody would be pretty much on the same page that our defense drives our team and our core is as good as any in the League. We will not be touching our defense in the near future here."
The window for Poile and his staff to begin speaking to unrestricted free agents opens Sunday, and he expects to touch base with "five or six" agents of potential UFAs to gauge what the market might bring when it opens next weekend.
"I clearly think this year as we've built up our franchise and the success we had off the ice and the visual experience everybody had that saw our games and what Nashville is like, it probably does make Nashville a very attractive team to come to," Poile said. "I'll let you know soon if that's the case."
Two players Poile does not expect to return to the roster are forwards Vernon Fiddler and P.A. Parenteau who are unrestricted free agents. Poile confirmed talks with unrestricted free agent Harry Zolnierczyk on the potential of a new deal, but there is no agreement yet.
