Overview
- Multiple outlets reported on July 1 that the Nashville Predators are set to acquire 24-year-old Mavrik Bourque from the Dallas Stars, though teams had not issued formal confirmations as of those reports.
- Accounts differ on the exact return but say the deal involves veteran defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin plus draft picks, with sources listing either second-round picks in 2027 and 2028 or a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third-round pick.
- Dallas is reported to have moved to avoid the rare but costly RFA offer-sheet process because the Stars have roughly $9.2 million in cap space without a Jason Robertson extension, which would limit their ability to match big offers.
- Bourque comes off an 82-game season with 20 goals and 41 points and was on a one-year, $950,000 bridge contract last season, facts that increase his leverage as a restricted free agent.
- Offer sheets are uncommon but can force teams to surrender high draft compensation depending on contract size, so this pre-emptive trade could reshape Dallas’s short-term roster plans and Nashville’s effort to negotiate a new deal for Bourque.