- Ilya Lyubushkin says he and his Stars head coach “simply have different views”
- The defenseman told his agent he wanted Nashville before Dallas moved him July 1
- Read below for Lyubushkin’s full breakdown of his Dallas exit and his fit with the Predators
Ilya Lyubushkin never asked the Stars to trade him. He just stopped hiding that he was done sitting.
The 32-year-old defenseman walked through his Dallas exit in a long interview with Sport-Express reporter Fyodor Nosov. Nosov asked whether he already knew a trade was coming after his end-of-season sit-downs with the coaching staff and management.
“I wasn’t satisfied with my position on the team. I don’t want to be in a place where they don’t give me the chance to help the team,” Lyubushkin said. “The general manager always treated me well, but the head coach and I simply have different views.”
Pressed on what those differences actually were, he kept it short. “That’s inside stuff. I was unhappy with my ice time and I didn’t understand some of the decisions.”
Dallas moved him on July 1, packaging him with Mavrik Bourque for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 third.
He said the push didn’t start with him. Cap math did.
“I wouldn’t say the initiative came from me. Dallas had salary cap problems,” Lyubushkin said. “I decided for myself that I needed a change of scenery. I didn’t want to be somewhere they don’t see me in the lineup.”
No trade protection meant the destination was never his to pick, but he still got a word in. After that meeting with management, Lyubushkin told his agent Nashville was one of the teams that interested him. He had liked the Predators even before he signed in Dallas, and he called Tennessee a good place for his family.
The season behind all of it was a thin one. Lyubushkin put up nine points, 90 blocked shots and 68 hits in 53 games, then added one assist in two playoff appearances as Minnesota bounced Dallas in the first round. He blamed a run of small injuries and coaching decisions for the missed games.
Nashville picks him up for the final year of the three-year, $9.75 million contract he signed in 2024, and the Predators have already started introducing him around Smashville. Check out the get-to-know-you post where he admitted a snapped stick ruins his night because his knob tape job takes so long:
Lyubushkin has been skating with Artemi Panarin and Mikhail Sergachev this summer and says he will hit his peak right around opening night. Nosov also asked him whether the team he just joined is in a rebuild, and the answer was not the one a veteran on an expiring deal usually gives.
“Yes. There are young prospects and superstars of the league,” Lyubushkin said. “Nashville has every chance to fight for the Stanley Cup.”
