NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mavrik Bourque said he never wanted to be traded out of Dallas. Two months after the Dallas Stars sent him to the Nashville Predators, the 24-year-old forward made the comments on NHL Network’s “NHL Tonight” on Aug. 31.
On July 1, the Stars traded Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to Nashville for the Predators’ second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in 2028 that originally belonged to the Vegas Golden Knights. Bourque was a restricted free agent coming off a one-year, $950,000 contract. On the day of the trade, TSN’s Chris Johnston reported that Bourque had been considered an offer sheet candidate and that Nashville was already working on an extension.
Three days later, the Predators signed him to a six-year, $33 million contract. The deal carries a $5.5 million cap hit through the 2031-32 season, after which Bourque can become an unrestricted free agent.
Bourque had been expecting a trade because of where the Stars sat against the salary cap.
“I really liked Dallas, for me it felt like home, so I didn’t want to get traded at all,” Bourque said. “But it’s a business, and with the cap situation now these days, I knew a trade was probably coming, but I felt like I was in a good situation over there. But on the other side, I get to a place where I will have more opportunity and get a six-year deal. So I think it worked out good, and I’m happy to be a Nashville Predator now.”
Bourque wants to show Nashville that the trade was the right move on its end.
“You get traded, you’re not really sure,” Bourque explained. “I knew I was gonna probably get moved, and obviously getting to a place where the team offers you a six-year deal, it means you mean something to them. And at the same time, on my side, I want to show them that they did the right move.”
Jim Nill On The Bourque Trade
Stars general manager Jim Nill said on July 1 that Bourque’s next contract, after the one-year deal Bourque took in 2025, was headed somewhere Dallas could not fit under the cap, according to NHL.com.
“We love Mavrik. Good player for us,” Nill said. “His game’s really come along. MVP of the American League, and his game got better and better. Been a good, young player for us. Unfortunately, he’s a casualty of the cap world. You have to be cap compliant, and those decisions have to be made. He did a good job. His contract was coming up. He bet on himself last year, and where his contract was going, it was something that we wouldn’t be able to fit in. You can’t fit everybody in. It’s just part of the business.”
Lyubushkin, 32, had 1 goal, 8 assists, and 9 points in 53 games for Dallas in 2025-26 and averaged 15:44 of ice time. He is in the final season of a three-year contract with a $3.25 million cap hit and can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. In 486 career games with Arizona, Toronto, Buffalo, Anaheim, and Dallas, he has 7 goals, 63 assists, and 70 points.
The 2028 third-round pick came to Nashville from Vegas on March 3 in the trade that sent forward Cole Smith to the Golden Knights.
Bourque’s Final Season With The Stars
Dallas drafted Bourque 30th overall in 2020 out of Shawinigan of the QMJHL and signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on March 1, 2021. He made his NHL debut on April 6, 2024, against Chicago and went back to the AHL’s Texas Stars the next day. That season in Texas, he had 26 goals, 51 assists, and 77 points in 71 games. He led the AHL in scoring and won the Les Cunningham Award as the league’s MVP. Over parts of three AHL seasons, he had 129 points in 147 games.
As an NHL rookie in 2024-25, Bourque had 11 goals, 14 assists, and 25 points in 73 games. In 2025-26, he set career highs with 20 goals, 21 assists, and 41 points in 82 games. His average ice time went up to 15:29 per game. He recorded 79 hits and 147 shots. His 20 goals were fourth on the team. His first career hat trick came on April 13, 2026, in a 6-5 win over Toronto.
In the playoffs, Bourque had 1 goal in 6 games. The goal came in Game 6 of the first round at Minnesota on April 30, a 5-2 Wild win that ended the series 4-2 and gave Minnesota its first series victory since 2015. Lyubushkin played 2 games in that series and had 1 assist.
Bourque left Dallas with 31 goals, 35 assists, and 66 points in 156 regular-season games, plus 1 goal in 10 playoff games over three postseasons.
Bourque’s First Days In Nashville
Bourque had been with the Predators for four days when he made the appearance. He said Jonathan Marchessault, who is also from the Quebec City area, had him over several times during the summer to talk about the city, and that Steven Stamkos and Ryan O’Reilly are the veterans he wants to learn from.
The Predators were eliminated from playoff contention on April 13 and missed the postseason for a second straight season. Bourque said the number of new faces in Nashville makes his own adjustment easier, and that getting the Predators back into the playoffs is the goal.
Nashville opens its preseason schedule on Sept. 20 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
