Heading into the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, the Nashville Predators were looking to upgrade their top six forward core in preparation for another Stanley Cup run. They eventually settled on Wayne Simmonds, and traded Ryan Hartman and a conditional 2019 fourth round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers for the power forward.
For the rest of the regular season, Simmonds scored only three points in 17 games with the Predators. Heading into the playoffs, he was closer to being a healthy scratch than being a viable scoring option for Nashville.