Nashville Predators land 23-year old forward from the Chicago Blackhawks

This season has been a very odd one for the Nashville Predators, as they landed immense star power in the summer only to struggle early in the 2024/25 season, with many questioning their potential this season.

Now, they've followed up the intriguing trade of Philip Tomasino with another one, as the team has now acquired 23-year-old forward Ryder Rolston from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Rolston, a former fifth-round pick of the Blackhawks has yet to make his NHL debut, with the Boston native posting 10 goals and 19 points in 62 games a season ago in his first professional season with the AHL's Rockford Ice Hogs.

In six games this season, he has just one goal, but now he's heading to a new destination in Nashville, and with solid size (6-foot-2, 200 pounds), he certainly has the makings of a bottom-six winger in the NHL.

For now, though, it's hard to see why the Predators pursued Rolston, as he is yet to prove he can find success at the professional level, with the Blackhawks very quick to move on from him after his early struggles.

After the trade for Tomasino, there has clearly been a spot opened up in Nashville for a young winger to stake his claim to an NHL spot, and after this trade, it appears the team will give Rolston every chance to win that role.

It's unclear what the Blackhawks will be getting out of this deal at the moment, but given that Rolston was just a fifth-round draft pick, it's likely easy to move on from him as the team should land some more elite-level talent in the top of the draft for years to come.