Six weeks after pulling off the biggest trade of the year, Nashville Predators general manager David Poile was expecting more.

Not from Ryan Johansen, whom the Predators acquired on Jan. 6 in a one-for-one deal from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenceman Seth Jones, but the rest of the team.

“We felt doing the trade would get us to a higher level,” said Poile. “So far, we haven’t been able to find that higher level. We’ve been OK. We’re still a playoff team but we’re not playing to the level we did last year and the level we know we can get to.”

So far, Johansen has been every bit the player Poile knew he could. He has 16 points in 17 games (he had 26 points in 38 games with the Blue Jackets). He has a plus-5 rating (he was a minus-4 in Columbus) and he is becoming the No. 1 centre Nashville has coveted ever since the NHL expanded to Tennessee.

But while Johansen is holding up his end of the bargain, the Predators are 7-7-3 and continue to tread water as a wild card team in the Western Conference standings.

“If you were to tell me that would have happened,” Poile said of Johansen’s productivity, “I would have thought our record would be better. He’s doing his part, but we aren’t getting secondary scoring at all. If you compare our offensive statistics from last year to this year, almost every player is down. There’s not too many guys that are having better seasons. So collectively, it doesn’t bode well for winning.”

In Columbus, it is more of the same.

Jones, who had 11 points in 40 games with the Predators, has 10 points in 16 games with the Blue Jackets. He has gone from a minus-5 rating to a plus-4 rating. But the Blue Jackets, who are 8-5-3 with Jones in the lineup, still are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Still, the trade has addressed long-term needs for both teams and is an example of one that should work out equally well for Nashville and Columbus.

“We have a No. 1 centre who is 23. That’s exactly what we needed,” said Poile. “When you go back to Seth Jones’ draft year, we were looking for a forward and I thought we’d get a forward in the draft. But Seth Jones, who I thought would go one, two or three, just fell to us. And a few years later, he becomes Ryan Johansen.

“I think that’s how it’s supposed to work.”

Kessel sputtering

Turns out, Phil Kessel won’t score 50 goals this season.

With 16 goals in 55 games, the Pittsburgh Penguins forward is actually on pace for 24 goals, less than the 25 he scored last season with the Maple Leafs when Tyler Bozak was his centre. For a player who began the season on Sidney Crosby’s wing and has since played mostly with Evgeni Malkin, it is a surprising development.

“Phil’s done OK,” said Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, who acquired Kessel from the Leafs in a six-player deal that sent Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling and conditional first- and third-round picks to Toronto.

“You always want more from him, because you know what the talent level is and how he can score.”

Rutherford said Kessel has played better of late — he had 11 goals and 21 points in his first 44 games and five goals and 14 points in his last 18 games — and did not rule out Kessel and Crosby playing together again, now that the pressure is off.

“They way over-tried,” Rutherford said of Crosby and Kessel. “They were trying so hard to make that work. I mean they’re both great passers and every time they got the puck they would try to pass it to the other guy, even if that’s not what the play was.

“I believe if Phil went back and played with Sid, now that the experiment happened, they would play fine together. The newness has worn off. But I doubt it will end up that way, because there’s been good chemistry with Malkin and Kessel.”

Holtby in, Price out?

With Carey Price potentially out for the rest of the season, there could be a job opening for Canada’s World Cup of Hockey team.

If so, Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby likely has the inside track.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, Holtby had a 2.16 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage for the NHL-leading Capitals.

“I think he started the season right where he left off,” said Capitals head coach Barry Trotz. “He’s been great for us. When we haven’t played well, he’s been the backbone and erased a lot of mistakes.”

Holtby has never represented Canada at the Olympics or world championship, but Trotz said the big stage would not intimidate him.

“I just know that he wants to be a top goaltender in this league and help the Washington Capitals win,” said Trotz. “I think that he recognizes that if you do all those things well, everything else will fall into place when it comes to all the awards and recognition.”

mtraikos@postmedia.com

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