Erik Gudbranson Dealt to Nashville Predators
Brandon Fortunato and a 7th in 2023 is the return.
Just after the 3pmEST NHL trade deadline, one last Ottawa Senators transaction came through, as Pierre Dorion sent defenceman Erik Gudbranson to the Nashville Predators.
Erik Gudbranson has been dealt to Nashville. #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) April 12, 2021
First reported by the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch, the Senators have dealt the hulking defender to the Predators, in exchange for Brandon Fortunato, and a seventh-round draft pick in 2023.
The 29 year-old Gudbranson was acquired by the Senators in October, with a 2021 fifth-round selection going the other way. A native of Ottawa, Gudbranson served as an alternate captain this season, scoring a goal and two assists in 36 games, to go with 47 penalty minutes. Gudbranson was deployed in nearly every facet by coach DJ Smith; going from top-pairing minutes with Thomas Chabot, to even being a healthy scratch for a stretch of games as the season wore on.
Drafted third overall by the Florida Panthers in 2010, Gudbranson has suited up in 554 NHL games with the Senators, Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He has 21 goals and 55 assists for 76 points over the course of his career.
The Senators did not retain any of Gudbranson’s $4 million cap hit, and he will be an unrestricted free agent upon this season’s conclusion.
Fortunato, 24, was signed to a two-year, entry-level deal by the Predators in April of 2019. Over a four-year college hockey career spent with Boston University and Quinnipiac University, he scored 16 goals and 60 assists for 76 points in 142 games.
Fortunato tallied 21 points in 48 games with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades last season, and has no points in nine games with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL in 2021. He will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
There are no conditions on the pick.