Ex-Knights defenseman discusses contract talks, trade to Predators

In the end, it’s a numbers game — both in terms of dollars and roster spots.

Hague still believed before the end of last season he would remain with the Golden Knights, the team that picked him in the second round of the 2017 draft.

Instead, the 6-foot-6 defenseman is starting anew with the Nashville Predators. The Knights traded Hague and a 2027 third-round pick to Nashville on June 29 in exchange for forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.

Hague, a restricted free agent this offseason, then signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Predators.

“Sometimes I think it’s not really up to me, especially in the position I was in,” Hague said in a phone interview with the Review-Journal. “That’s just the way it works. I’m not the first guy that’s happened to, and I know I won’t be the last.”

Handshake agreement

Hague, 26, scored 83 points in 364 games with the Knights.

Negotiations came down to the wire on his last contract with the team. He signed a three-year, $6.88 million deal Oct. 10, 2022, the day before the first game of what turned into a Stanley Cup-winning season for the Knights.

Hague was hopeful his tenure with the team would continue. He said he had a verbal agreement with general manager Kelly McCrimmon before the 2025 postseason.

“I thought I had a deal done with Vegas done before the playoffs, and we had agreed on what it was going to be,” said Hague, who didn’t specify what the terms of the deal were. “On both sides, it was a word agreement. Obviously nothing was signed. Because I said to them, ‘We’re going into the playoffs. That’s the No. 1 priority right now and we’ll reconvene and get this done after the season.’ It was all good.

“Then the season ended, and it just never did.”

Hague said “it kind of went cold with Vegas for a little bit there” after the season. The Knights declined to comment.

The team ended up having a busy summer.

The Knights acquired right wing Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1 and signed him to an eight-year, $96 million deal. Adding Marner and re-signing Hague to a deal similar to the one he received with the Predators would have required the team to make adjustments to its roster elsewhere.

The Knights decided it wasn’t worth it.

Hague’s $5.5 million cap hit would rank third among the team’s active defensemen behind only Shea Theodore ($7.425 million) and Noah Hanifin ($7.35 million). But he ranked sixth among Knights defensemen, and 10th among skaters, in average ice time last season.

“With our team, it’s hard for (Hague) to move up on the defense,” McCrimmon said on July 1. “When you get to mixing in the equation of the cost of players and where they are in your lineup, that was part of the motivation where this trade was made.

“I hope great things for Nic Hague. I think he’s an unbelievable person. Really happy for him to get the contract he got. I hope he does great.”

Hague said he did not request a trade and he harbors no ill will toward the Knights.

“I got obviously nothing against Vegas for the way everything played out,” Hague said. “It was all good. I had a good conversation with Kelly. That’s just the nature of what we do. It is what it is.”

Life in Nashville

Hague is excited for what the future holds. He and his wife, Ally, got settled into Nashville two weeks ago.

He joins a team that fell well short of expectations last season. The Predators finished with 68 points, the third-fewest in the NHL, despite signing center Steven Stamkos, defenseman Brady Skjei and former Knights right wing Jonathan Marchessault in July 2024.

Hague is looking forward to playing with Marchessault again.

“That’s been nice having a familiar face, for sure. He’s the same as he’s always been,” Hague said, laughing. “To already have that relationship with him, it makes the transition a little bit easier.”

Hague said he was surprised by how much Nashville struggled last season, but he believes the team has enough experience to turn things around.

“I’d say my expectations are also high for us and (I) hope we can live up to them,” he said.

Hague will make his return to T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 31. He should receive a warm reception from a crowd that watched him blossom into a homegrown regular for a championship team.

“The city was always great to my wife and I,” Hague said. “We were fortunate enough to be a part of the team that won there. I’ll miss the guys on the team, the friendships we’ve developed over the last seven, eight years being there. Friendships that I’ll have forever. I’m just kind of thankful for everything that came out of that part of our life, being in Vegas. I loved it there.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.