Nashville Predators Trade P.K. Subban to New Jersey Devils

The Predators will receive Steven Santini, prospect Jeremy Davies and two second-round picks.

The Nashville Predators have traded defenseman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils, the team announced on Saturday.

The Predators will receive defenseman Steven Santini, prospect Jeremy Davies, the No. 34 pick in this year's draft, and a 2020 second-round pick in exchange.

The move comes just one day after the Devils selected Jack Hughes with the No.1 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Subban was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens with the 43rd overall pick in the 2007 draft and won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 2013. The 30-year-old joined the Predators in 2016 in a blockbuster trade that sent Shea Weber to the Canadiens.

"We appreciate P.K.'s contribution to the Predators and the Nashville community over the past three seasons, which have seen our organization have unprecedented success," general manager David Poile said. "He was an integral part of our run to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, the 2018 Presidents' Trophy and back-to-back Central Division titles .... We had to make a business decision. With an aim at strengthening our forward corps this offseason, and the continued strength of our defensive group, we felt it was necessary to clear up salary cap space this way."

Subban missed at least 16 games in two of his three seasons with the Predators but finished third in Norris Trophy voting during the 2017-18 season. He recorded a career-low 31 points in 2018.

The defenseman has three seasons remaining on the eight-year, $72 milllion contract he originally signed with the Canadiens in 2014 and has a $9 million annual cap hit. The Predators won't retain any of his salary, opening up a lot of cap space in Nashville as it potentially targets big-named free agents. New Jersey's ability to take the cap hit of Subban's full salary was one of the top reasons the trade happened, according to Devils GM Ray Shero.

"It's an asset to be able to take it. For Nashville, and what they're looking to do—re-signing Roman Josi and some other things—and they have a good defense [already], those are the opportunities that you look for."

The Devils also traded John Quenneville to Chicago for winger John Hayden on Saturday.