When the final horn sounded on the Predators’ 2018-19 season, the verdict was a simple one: This team needed more offense. Desperately.

Even more specifically, this team needed more offense from its forward corps, a group that — as colleague Adam Vingan recently pointed out — has finished 27th or lower in percentage of team goals scored in each of the past five seasons.

So credit Predators general manager David Poile for taking the first step in addressing Nashville’s most pressing need, doing so by dealing defenseman P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils.

This trade wasn’t primarily about what the Preds got in return on Saturday, which was two second-round picks as well as two young defensemen — Steven Santini and Jeremy Davies.

Nor was it about trying to get rid of Subban the player because of perceived poor performance or powerful personality.

It was, however, all about getting rid of Subban’s salary, which would have averaged $9 million per season for the next three years. His $9 million cap hit next year ranks third among all NHL defensemen, trailing only San Jose’s Erik Karlsson and Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty.

So all of a sudden, a Predators team that was looking cash-strapped under the NHL’s salary cap — even without re-signing Colton Sissons, Rocco Grimaldi and potentially Brian Boyle — is breathing a big sigh of monetary relief.

Per capfriendly.com, the Predators now have about $13.7 million in cap space for next season, assuming the new cap ceiling will be $82 million.

Could the Predators have traded different players in order to clear cap space?

I’m sure plenty of Preds fans will wish the team had, given Subban’s popularity and the fact he produced good numbers in his first two regular seasons here. Subban was a quality performer in three Predators postseasons as well.

But trading Subban simply made the most sense of the potential options.

Center Kyle Turris had an awful season in 2018-19, totaling just 23 points in 55 games. I’m sure the Preds are sweating what lies ahead, considering Turris has five years and $30 million remaining on his contract. But precisely because of those numbers — the low points and the big dollars — it’s hard to imagine any team clamoring to acquire him, certainly not at full salary.

A trade of defenseman Ryan Ellis would have opened up a large chunk of cap space as well. But once again, I would argue that Ellis isn’t a highly marketable player at present. Ellis is headed into an eight-year, $50 million deal (average annual salary of $6.25 million), one that will be paying him until he’s 36. Considering that at last season’s end, Ellis appeared to be a candidate for another knee procedure, his acquisition would represent a risky move for another team.

Moving center Nick Bonino might have made sense — and it may still happen — but at an average salary of $4.1 million over the next two years, that deal alone would not have opened even half the cap room Subban’s did.

There are a handful of untouchables for the Predators as well: Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson, Roman Josi and Mattias Ekholm.

So really, it had to be Subban, who — it also should be pointed out — has played fewer than 70 regular-season games in three of the past four years.

But here’s the key for the Predators:

In order for this trade to work, Poile has to score big in free agency with the money he saved by moving Subban’s salary. He has to land a high-scoring forward who will improve the team’s offense.

The obvious target come Sunday — when teams can begin talking with free agents — is center Matt Duchene, who is coming off a career-best 31 goals, along with 70 points last season. His 10 points in 10 playoff games helped Columbus earn its first postseason series win in 2019.

Is Duchene perfect? Certainly not.

Vingan recently pointed out some of the holes in his game, and Duchene hasn’t necessarily played up to his capabilities each year — tallying just 41 points in 77 games with Colorado in 2016-17, for instance.

But the 28-year-old Ontario, Canada, native would still check off a lot of boxes for the Predators.

First and foremost, Duchene is the best center on the market (seven years younger than Joe Pavelski) and the biggest position of need for the Predators if Turris doesn’t bounce back from last year’s woes. Duchene has averaged about 23 goals and 55 points in 10 seasons, both numbers better than Johansen — though Duchene isn’t as good a two-way player as Johansen.

He’s also effective on the power play, having scored a combined 15 man-advantage goals over the past two seasons. No one needs to remind Predators fans what a wasteland the team’s power play was last year, finishing at the bottom of the league during the regular season and going six games without a goal in the playoffs.

It can’t hurt, either, that Duchene — a big country-music man — has on more than one occasion talked about his admiration for Music City. Only a couple days after the Blue Jackets were eliminated from the playoffs this year, Duchene and a number of his Columbus teammates headed to Nashville for a big birthday bash — one they duly recorded on social media.

So what’s the Duchene price tag?

It’s going to be a hefty one, both in terms of the money and the length of contract. Expect Duchene to command a seven-year deal, averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million or $9 million per season.

Big bucks, to be sure, but the Predators now have that kind of money in reserve, thanks to the Subban trade.

If the Preds don’t land Duchene, there are other worthwhile forward targets — Pavelski, Ryan Dzingel, Anders Lee, Gustav Nyquist and Micheal Ferland, to name a few. (I’m assuming Artemi Panarin is headed for a big city with a very warm climate.)

But Duchene has to be priority 1 — and 1A, for that matter.

If the Predators can land Duchene or another high-impact forward or two — using the cap money gained from the Subban deal — then the deal Saturday with New Jersey has a chance to make this team better moving forward.

Change can be painful, but necessary.

But if the Predators don’t hit on Duchene or another high-impact forward with their newfound cash, it’s an entirely different scenario. If they somehow whiff in free agency — and left merely touting the prospects and draft picks they acquired from the Devils — then the trade is almost certainly a failure.

Happy hunting, David Poile.

(Top photo of Matt Duchene: Aaron Doster / USA Today)