Mattias Ekholm
Another player who could improve the left defensive side is the Swedish Mattias Ekholm. Being 32, he’s almost ten years older than Chychrun and has a bigger paycheck too, with 6.25M AAV until 2026. Ekholm has played his entire career in Nashville so far and has 11 points (2-9) on 33 games this season.
Ekholm would make the team better for sure, but with Chychrun as an option, he shouldn’t be the first choice, because the Predators wouldn’t sell him cheap as well. Players like Warren Foegele (2.75M AAV), Tyson Barrie (4.5M AAV), and even Jesse Puljujarvi (3M AAV) could be involved to help with cap reasons as well.