Ryan O'Reilly seems like a perfect fit for the Nashville Predators -- and not because he writes songs and plays the guitar, as big of a bonus as that might be in Music City.
For the first time since they joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1998-99, the Predators are revamping themselves under a new general manager, but they aren't rebuilding. They're trying to win the Stanley Cup.
They showed that Saturday when they signed O'Reilly, a top two-way center and perhaps the best unrestricted free agent on the market, to a four-year, $18 million contract ($4.5 million average annual value).
"That was a critical piece for us," said general manager Barry Trotz, who officially took over for original GM David Poile on Saturday, the first day of free agency.
The Predators began making major changes as far back as Feb. 28, when they traded defenseman Mattias Ekholm to the Edmonton Oilers. They traded center Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche on June 24 and bought out center Matt Duchene on Friday. Those are three big pieces.
This is a team that missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season after losing in the first round four years in a row. It needs to go in a new direction.
But it doesn't need a teardown.
The Predators finished three points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference last season. They still have a foundation of Juuse Saros in goal and Roman Josi on defense.
So, they signed O'Reilly, forward Gustav Nyquist (two years, $3.185 million AAV) and defenseman Luke Schenn (three years, $2.75 million AAV) on Saturday. O'Reilly is 32. Nyquist and Schenn are 33.
Trotz said his intention wasn't to put his stamp on the roster.
"My intention was to make this team real good and for a long time," he said. "I don't want you to come [to Nashville] to retire. I want you to come here to win."
O'Reilly helped Team Canada win the World Cup of Hockey 2016, when Trotz was part of the coaching staff.
When the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2018-19, he won the Selke Trophy voted as the best defensive forward in the NHL and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired him from the Blues on Feb. 17. He sustained a broken finger March 4, missed a month and came back down the stretch, then helped the Maple Leafs win a playoff series for the first time since 2004 by having seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference First Round.
He likely won't put up eye-popping offensive numbers in Nashville, but he will play a 200-foot game, win face-offs and set an example.
"What areas does he not affect?" Trotz said. "He has an effect on the offensive zone. He has an effect on the defensive zone. He has an effect in the face-off circle. He has an effect in late-game situations offensively and defensively.
"People follow him. People do the things that are not always easy to do to win. He does that all over the ice."
Trotz pushed back when someone questioned O'Reilly's quickness.
"When there's a race for the puck, he's quick," Trotz said. "You'll see that he finds the puck. He finds ways. You play fast with your mind, not necessarily with your legs. I've had a lot of players that are really, really fast but don't really play a fast game."
Nyquist will add scoring. Schenn will add experience. Along with Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh, he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
"I look for hard players to support our skill and to support our young guys, to teach them the right way, to build a culture of winning year in and year out," Trotz said. "That's my goal.
"I don't come to work not to try to get better. I come to work to improve things. If I can improve our hockey team somehow, I want to do that. If I can improve the efficiency with how we do things as an organization, I want to do that. I'm looking for things that make us better, make us stand out."
Trotz coached the Predators for their first 15 seasons. He helped them get to the point where they qualified for the playoffs seven times in eight seasons from 2003-12. But they never advanced past the second round. After they missed the playoffs two straight seasons, he was fired April 14, 2014.
The Predators made the playoffs eight straight seasons afterward, reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 2017. But they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, and they haven't made it past the second round since.
Trotz won the Cup as the coach of the Capitals in 2018. Now he wants to put the Predators over the top as their GM, and he has made that clear from the start.
"This is a great place to win," Trotz said. "Winning has been here. You've been in the playoffs eight times in a row. That's not easy. It's very hard just to make the playoffs. But your goal can't be just to make the playoffs. Your goal has to be to win the Stanley Cup."
NHL.com independent correspondent John Glennon contributed to this story
