Josh Cooper

jcooper2@tennessean.com

The Predators and Michael Del Zotto appear to be done with each other.

Calling the 24-year-old defenseman "not a fit" for Nashville, Predators general manager David Poile said he had not yet given the restricted free agent a qualifying offer, which is due by 4 p.m. Monday.

That leaves three options for Del Zotto: He either will be traded, signed to an extension or left without a qualifying offer, thus making him an unrestricted free agent.

The last option seems the likeliest possibility. Last week, Del Zotto's agent, Mark Guy, said he and the Predators had no discussions on an extension, and nothing appeared to have changed as of Sunday.

"Del Zotto is a good player. He's a good offensive player. He couldn't get ahead of (Roman) Josi, (Shea) Weber, (Seth) Jones and (Ryan) Ellis in the offensive situations," Poile said Sunday. "We have all these balls in the air. We'll see what happens."

The Predators are loaded with young defensemen, and Del Zotto is coming off a two-year $5.1 million contract. If Nashville were to make a qualifying offer to Del Zotto, it would have to be for at least the same as his most recent contract. That seems unlikely given the Predators' desire to clear salary as they revamp the roster.

The Predators acquired Del Zotto last year from the New York Rangers for Kevin Klein to give them a left-handed shooter. It simply didn't work out for the former 41-point scorer. He had just five points in 25 games with the Predators and found himself a healthy scratch several times.

Del Zotto still has big potential and could command some interest on the trade market. But if a team acquired Del Zotto on Monday, it would have to make a qualifying offer for at least his most recent contract.

Worse for the Predators was that they gave up a stalwart in Klein, who was in the second year of a reasonable five-year, $14.5 million contract.

"It was a good try," Poile said of the trade. "The disappointing part is Del Zotto is a good player, but right now he's miscast.

As for the team's other restricted free agents, the Predators said they have made qualifying offers to all players on their NHL roster from last season. That would include both Ellis and fellow defensemen Mattias Ekholm.

Nashville did not submit qualifying offers to forward Joonas Rask or defenseman Charles-Olivier Roussel.

Rask played two games in the NHL, registering one assist. He had four goals and 10 assists in 58 games with the Milwaukee Admirals last season.

Roussel, a second-round draft pick in 2009, never fulfilled his potential. He had four goals and 13 assists in 66 games last season with the Admirals.

Coaching carousel: Poile was unclear as to whether he would replace departed assistant coach Lane Lambert.

The Predators kept Lambert after Barry Trotz's contract was up, but Trotz, now coach of the Washington Capitals, hired Lambert away.

Poile said the Predators would stick with their current two assistants — Kevin McCarthy and Phil Housley — for now.

"We talked about that, and when Peter (Laviolette) learned Lane wasn't coming back, he said, 'Let's just take a time out on this,'" Poile said.

Reach Josh Cooper at 615-726-8917 and on Twitter @joshuacooper.