from Gentry Estes of The Tennessean,

The Seattle Kraken didn’t take the bait. They didn’t reach a sweetened deal or voluntarily pay up for Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen in the NHL’s expansion draft.

Instead, they took a bargain in Calle Järnkrok.

And the Nashville Predators winced and took a loss.

Strange as it might sound, retaining their two top centers – given their long-term deals and overpriced salaries – was the worst thing that could have happened to the Preds on Wednesday night. They’d have much rather lost Duchene or Johansen than Järnkrok.

Which speaks to how complicated things have become.

A pivotal offseason for the Preds has accelerated into an eventful flurry of recent activity, and it has done so without a decipherable direction from general manager David Poile.

He’s not gearing up. He’s not rebuilding.

Really, what he’s doing is trying to erase his own mistakes.

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