Thoughts on the Nashville Predators?

[CraigsList]

Thoughts on them?

What a good year they had! WC seed to Western Conference champions. I expect them to play better in the season and are my favorite to win the Central division with the most points. Poile is a fantastic GM and has already locked up key players long term. This will make the Preds a competitive team for the future. It'll be interesting when Saros officially takes Rinne's spot as #1, because the prospect has played pretty solid on the stints that he's had. What does Nashville lack? I would probably say another top 6 center. Perhaps Matt Duchene is really being looked at.

Click to read more...

 

[PKWeber]

The Preds will be stanley cup contenders for a long time because of that amazing D
and they should make my bredrin [MOD] Subban captain.

 

[CaptainChef]

I see Nashville as being a great playoff performer, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them struggle in reg season again this year. Given how strong our division is this year, if Rinne isn't on his game, I could even see them on the outside looking in

 

[Stephen Gionta]

As long as their top 4 D are Subban, Josi, Ellis, and Ekholm, and they have Forsberg and Johansen, they will always be Stanley Cup contenders.

However, I think losing Fischer and Neal are two huge blows. Gaining Bonino helps, but lets see how much. I think they took a minor step back. Hopefully its a step back for two steps forward.

 

[DRW204]

Love their defense, top line and coach. Losing 25-30gs in Neal hurts and i am not 100% sure who will step up (Aberg, Kamenev?). If they get Duchene and bump Bonino to 3C and move Jarnkrok to W i think they can be a top 3 team in the Central. got them 4th currently

 

[Empoleon8771]

Overrated because they rode a hot goalie to the cup finals last year, they're a good team and are extremely safe bets to make the playoffs, but I think they're pretty clearly below teams like Anaheim, St. Louis and Edmonton in the West. I think they're right around on par with Minnesota or Calgary.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Honestly even as a Preds fan I find their actual team defense to be overrated even if they have the best blueline. Their offensive game is however very underrated and people automatically assume because they have the best blueline and above average goaltending yet still finished 8th place is because of their bad offense. Um no.

 

[Soundgarden]

With Subban finally gelling towards the end of the year we should have a better regular season than last year.

A lot of talk will be about how we're going to replace Neal, but in reality he had a down year after getting slashed vs. Win and Cal, Hartnell only had like four points less than him, and if Forsberg can score more than a single goal from Oct-Thanksgiving it shouldn't be a problem.

I think the bigger question is how Rinne will do, and how many starts Saros gets.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Overrated because they rode a hot goalie to the cup finals last year, they're a good team and are extremely safe bets to make the playoffs, but I think they're pretty clearly below teams like Anaheim, St. Louis and Edmonton in the West. I think they're right around on par with Minnesota or Calgary.

How are they below St. Louis? They have better goaltending and a better blueline and offense. St. Louis edges them out in overall team defense, but nevertheless the Preds offense is far superior. Tarasenko is very overrated offensively, and their offense from the blueline doesn't come close to Nashville.

 

[Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk]

Blazing hot, sweaty [MOD] sprinkled with hot chicken and J.R. Lind wrestling takes. Might have some fallback this year but should compete for a top three spot in the Central and go from there. Love their D-corps, Kevin Fiala is my spirit animal.

 

[Dogewow]

Good team that will stay competitive for a long while.

I don't believe that they'll be perennial contenders or consistently repeat their success that they had this past playoff run. Classic "get hot during the playoffs/Cinderella run" team that we've seen play out time and time again.

 

[Empoleon8771]

How are they below St. Louis? They have better goaltending and a better blueline and offense. St. Louis edges them out in overall team defense, but nevertheless the Preds offense is far superior. Tarasenko is very overrated offensively, and their offense from the blueline doesn't come close to Nashville.

I seriously disagree with the idea that Nashville is better offensively than St. Louis and their goaltending depends on which Rinne shows up, the 2015-2016 Rinne or the 2014-2015 Rinne. I also think the D groups are pretty close, Nashville's is better but St. Louis also has 2 #1s on separate pairs (Pietrangelo and Parayko) and another fringe top pair defenseman (Bouwmeester).

I'd take the Blues both offensively and defensively over Nashville going into next year, and I'm pretty confident in that too. Especially now that St. Louis added Schenn.

 

[Aerchon]

Every team in the Central (besides Col) is going to be in a dogfight for a playoff spot.

I imagine Minny, Nash, and Dallas being the ones to rise to the top this year tho.

 

[Soundgarden]

I seriously disagree with the idea that Nashville is better offensively than St. Louis and their goaltending depends on which Rinne shows up, the 2015-2016 Rinne or the 2014-2015 Rinne. I also think the D groups are pretty close, Nashville's is better but St. Louis also has 2 #1s on separate pairs (Pietrangelo and Parayko) and another fringe top pair defenseman (Bouwmeester).

I'd take the Blues both offensively and defensively over Nashville going into next year, and I'm pretty confident in that too. Especially now that St. Louis added Schenn.

So does Nashville with Josi and Subban and Ellis and Ekholm.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I seriously disagree with the idea that Nashville is better offensively than St. Louis and their goaltending depends on which Rinne shows up, the 2015-2016 Rinne or the 2014-2015 Rinne. I also think the D groups are pretty close, Nashville's is better but St. Louis also has 2 #1s on separate pairs (Pietrangelo and Parayko) and another fringe top pair defenseman (Bouwmeester).

I'd take the Blues both offensively and defensively over Nashville going into next year, and I'm pretty confident in that too. Especially now that St. Louis added Schenn.

You could easily make the argument of which Allen shows up, the 2015-2016 and later half 2016-2017 and 2017 playoffs Allen, or the Allen prior to those seasons/First half of 2016-2017 (Which in case you didn't know was easily a team weakness). Besides goaltending is all goalies. Saros is easily better than Hutton.

Bouwmeester is no longer a fringe top pairing Dman. He's a mid tier number 3 right now (So top 75 Dman), but he clearly doesn't do well in his role and hinders Pietrangelo especially given they take some of the hardest matchups and shelled in the Dzone in the league. Edmundson is good, but he doesn't seem to fit well with Parayko, and we need to hope he continues his 2017 playoffs (Which in my opinion was superior to Ekholm's first 2 series). Blues bottom pairing even with Shattenkirk gone is far superior to Nashville's that's for sure. Irwin-Weber generally speaking is a nightmare to behold.

 

[JaegerDice]

Best team in the Central.

Almost certain to make at least the WCF so long as their goaltending holds up. But I dont have huge confidence in Rinne beyond a dominant spurt here or there.

 

[Riptide]

Great team... just one that needs to do more to address their center depth. Bonino in and Fisher out doesn't do a lot to resolve this. Personally, between the two, I prefer Fisher. And while Sissons and Jarnkrok are both good players, both are more of a #3/4 guys then a #2. And Bonino is only a #2 if everything clicks. 3/4 of his time in Pittsburgh he was a #3 and playing nowhere near a #2.

Lots of quantity, not enough quality (when it comes to their centers).

If they could find a manageable way to get Duchene... holly crap. That would then make them one of the favorites to come out of the west. But at the very least they need a better #2 then Bonino.

I think the talk about Neal is overblown. They have a great group of prospects to pick up the slack - especially Fiala.

 

[Empoleon8771]

So does Nashville with Josi and Subban and Ellis and Ekholm.

My point was that the Blues D group isn't that far from the Predators D group.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Overrated because they rode a hot goalie to the cup finals last year, they're a good team and are extremely safe bets to make the playoffs, but I think they're pretty clearly below teams like Anaheim, St. Louis and Edmonton in the West. I think they're right around on par with Minnesota or Calgary.

IMO Rinne's playoff run was a bit overhyped. He had an amazing run against the Hawks, but other than that i thought he was just his normal self. He had bad games, average games and good games.

Blues PP didn't click and they struggled to create grade A's in the o-zone, Ducks averaged 2.5 goals per game but ultimately got screwed by Gibson injury and Bernier crapping the bed, and we all know what happened vs the Pens.

I think what makes the Preds extremely dangerous is how good they are on home ice. I mean they went 3/3 vs the Sharks at home in 2016 as well, and the Sharks won road games against every other team they played in the playoffs.

Of course they had a hot run which is tough to repeat 2 years in a row, but i think they're on par with every team in the West. Subban-Josi-Ekholm-Ellis-Emelin is the best 1-5 d-core you can find, and while they lost Neal and Fisher, Bonino and Hartnell can replace a lot of the things those two guys brought last season, and guys like Fiala and Aberg are expected to take a next step. Wilson is out, but you have to expect Craig Smith have a better year as well as he had one of his worst seasons to date.

I think it's fair to say it's tough to know what to expect from them in the regular season, as they tend to play better when the stakes are higher, and they are traditionally not a great road team. But to me that makes them more dangerous as they're more likely to enter the playoffs on a high note than peaking early, if they get there (i guess missing is always possible, especially seeing how tight West is going to be).

Overall im impressed by their depth in the organization right now, and it's miles better than it's been before. Their #1 line is still there, the defense is still there, and Rinne still feels fresh. And while they don't have the same amount of stars up front like some other teams do, the offensive potential from their back-end is through the roof, and that decided a lot of games last post-season.

I agree they aren't above anyone in the West though, but i also don't see them being clearly below anyone.

 

[Empoleon8771]

You could easily make the argument of which Allen shows up, the 2015-2016 and later half 2016-2017 and 2017 playoffs Allen, or the Allen prior to those seasons/First half of 2016-2017 (Which in case you didn't know was easily a team weakness). Besides goaltending is all goalies. Saros is easily better than Hutton.

That's fair, goaltending is a legitimate question mark for both of them. Nashville because of Rinne's inconsistency, St. Louis because of Allen's small track record.

Bouwmeester is no longer a fringe top pairing Dman. He's a mid tier number 3 right now (So top 75 Dman), but he clearly doesn't do well in his role and hinders Pietrangelo especially given they take some of the hardest matchups and shelled in the Dzone in the league. Edmundson is good, but he doesn't seem to fit well with Parayko, and we need to hope he continues his 2017 playoffs (Which in my opinion was superior to Ekholm's first 2 series). Blues bottom pairing even with Shattenkirk gone is far superior to Nashville's that's for sure. Irwin-Weber generally speaking is a nightmare to behold.

I don't think there is much of s difference between a mid tier #3 and a fringe top pair D, it's the difference between an average #3 and a fringe #2/3. I also don't think Nashville's bottom pair is an issue anymore now that they added Emelin. Nashville's defense is better, I just don't think the difference between the St. Louis D and Nashville D is as big as the advantage the Blues forwards have on the Predators forwards.

 

[lomiller1]

Good team, but it’s been at least a few years since Rinne has provided the type of goaltending required by a contender. With quality goaltending they are a top 5 team in the NHL, with what’s they’ve had they are near the playoff line and I see them just getting in, probably as a wildcard team.

 

[Help]

They satisfy me in ways my fav team never could

 

[BusQuets]

Overrated because of Rinne carrying them to finals.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

That's fair, goaltending is a legitimate question mark for both of them. Nashville because of Rinne's inconsistency, St. Louis because of Allen's small track record.



I don't think there is much of s difference between a mid tier #3 and a fringe top pair D, it's the difference between an average #3 and a fringe #2/3. I also don't think Nashville's bottom pair is an issue anymore now that they added Emelin. Nashville's defense is better, I just don't think the difference between the St. Louis D and Nashville D is as big as the advantage the Blues forwards have on the Predators forwards.

Disclaimer: Purely on personal right off the mind bias that has some truth to it from stats, eye test, others opinons, etc. (Too lazy to make this into a professional essay).

Offensively for forwards:
1. Tarasenko (STL)
2. Forsberg (NSH)
3. Johansen (NSH)
4. Schwartz (STL)
5. Arvidsson (NSH)
6. Steen (STL)
7. Stastny (STL)
8. Schenn (Contrary to popular belief he is not that good offensively as his 5on5 production is p*** poor) (STL).
9. Smith (NSH)
10. Fabbri (STL)
11. Fiala (NSH)
12. Hartnell (NSH)
13. Bonino (NSH)
14. Berglund (STL)
15. Sobotka (STL)

STL wins 8/15 for the top 15 best offensive forwards, but I don't see St. Louis having a strong advantage.

Defensively for forwards:
1. Stastny (STL)
2. Berglund (STL)
3. Jarnkrok (NSH)
Gap:
4. Schwartz (STL)
5. Sobotka (STL)
6. Steen (STL)
7. Forsberg (NSH)
8. Johansen (NSH)
9. Bonino (NSH)
10. Schenn (STL)
11. Watson (NSH)
12. Brodziak (STL)
13. Jaskin/Barbashev (STL)
Another gap:
14. Arvidsson (NSH)
15. Sissons (NSH)

St. Louis wins 8/15 again and has the bigger advantage this time with their S4 leading the way.

Defenseman:

Offensively:
1. Subban (NSH)
2. Josi (NSH)
3. Pietrangelo (STL)
4. Ellis (NSH)
5. Parayko (STL)
6. Ekholm (NSH)

Big gap:
7. Edmundson (STL)
8. Weber (NSH)
Huge gap:
9. Emelin (NSH)
10. Bouwmeester (STL)
11. Bortuzzo (STL)
12. Gunnarsson (STL)

Defensively:
1. Ekholm (NSH)
2. Pietrangelo (STL)
3. Parayko (STL)
4. Subban (NSH)
5. Ellis (NSH)
6. Bouwmeester (STL)
7. Edmundson (STL)
8. Josi (NSH)
9. Gunnarsson (STL)
10. Bortuzzo (STL)
11. Emelin (NSH)
12. Weber (NSH)

Despite the better forwards, because of Nashville's deadly backend I'd still say they're better offensively. Because of the better defensive side from St. Louis forwards, St. Louis has the edge defensively but it's closer.

 

[SEALBound]

Great team... just one that needs to do more to address their center depth. Bonino in and Fisher out doesn't do a lot to resolve this. Personally, between the two, I prefer Fisher. And while Sissons and Jarnkrok are both good players, both are more of a #3/4 guys then a #2. And Bonino is only a #2 if everything clicks. 3/4 of his time in Pittsburgh he was a #3 and playing nowhere near a #2.

Lots of quantity, not enough quality (when it comes to their centers).

If they could find a manageable way to get Duchene... holly crap. That would then make them one of the favorites to come out of the west. But at the very least they need a better #2 then Bonino.

I think the talk about Neal is overblown. They have a great group of prospects to pick up the slack - especially Fiala.

I think that's a pretty fair assessment. Losing RyJo was a killer for the SCF hopes.

RyJo
Duchene
Bonino
Jarkrok/Sissons

would be a heck of a center lineup for them.