GM Barry Trotz on Predators trading former 1st rounder Philip Tomasino

On November 28, 2024By Littum

The Nashville Predators traded former first-round pick Philip Tomasino to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a fourth-round pick on Monday, which general manager Barry Trotz said had been in the works for some time.

“I’ve had feelers out for a while,” Trotz said. “There wasn’t much out there. I think there are a lot of question marks on (Tomasino). So we made the deal and got something back for him.”

Tomasino, 23, played in 11 games for Nashville this season and scored one assist. In 159 career games for Predatorhe had 23 goals and 48 assists.

Trotz said Tomasino’s decline in production and usage over the past few seasons led to the move.

“The player was not a regular in the lineup,” Trotz said. “You kind of saw it last year, you saw it again this year. With all due respect to the player, it was probably time to make a change.”

Philip Tomasino’s lack of production prompted the Predators to trade him

The Predators took Tomasino as the No. 24 overall in the 2019 draft. He made his NHL debut on the opening night of the 2021–22 season, the start of a rookie year with 11 goals and 21 assists.

But after that, he found himself on the outside of the row, looking in. For much of the following two seasons, he was either a healthy scratch or relegated to the American Hockey League. He played 60 games for the Milwaukee Admirals during that time, compared to 83 for the Predators.

Trainer Andrew Brunette mentioned in May that Tomasino had work to do to get back into the lineup. Trotz said that ultimately, in his conversations with Brunette, the work was there, but the production was not.

“I have to trust my coaches to put the best lineup in every night,” Trotz said. “I also have to trust my coaches if a player is getting a fair shake or not. Sometimes players just can’t find a fit or a role on a team. A little bit is on the team, a little bit is on the player, a little bit is in the playoffs, the production had good production, but his best years since then have been a little less and less.

By trading Tomasino to the Penguins, Trotz avoided losing Tomasino for nothing. The Predators’ fourth-round pick is for the 2027 draft; they now have eight picks in that draft. The team would have preferred to send him back to Milwaukee, but Tomasino would have had to clear waivers first, which Trotz believes probably wouldn’t have happened.

Two weeks ago, the Predators lost Dante Fabbro, another former first-round pick, to the Columbus Blue Jackets via waivers. In 2022, the same thing happened to former first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen, who was waived and picked up by the Seattle Kraken.

Now, the Predators have none of their first-round picks before 2021 on their roster, a roster that includes Tolvanen, Tomasino, Fabbro, Kevin Fiala and Yaroslav Askarov.

Trotz, who was named general manager in July 2023, acknowledges the lack of production from first-round picks is concerning, but pointed out that many of those were late-round picks.

“There’s a stigma with the first-round pick. If you pick in the top 10 and you don’t get a player who can play, that’s more of a problem,” he said. “Anything after 10, like from 15 to 32, there’s not as much difference between 15 and 32 than in the early second round.”

Adding draft capital has been a priority for Trotz since his arrival. The Predators have nine picks in the 2025 draft, including three first-round picks, and seven picks in the 2026 draft.

Alex Daugherty is Predator beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.