Nashville Predators: Aberg to Vegas is Worst-Case Scenario for Predators

The Nashville Predators have to lose somebody to the expansion draft. There are a few reasons they should hope Vegas looks past Pontus Aberg.

Expansion draft concerns are at the forefront of 30 NHL fanbases today. Most are predicting the Nashville Predators to lose James Neal, Colton Sissons, or Pontus Aberg to Vegas. Despite his relative anonymity, Aberg’s loss would be the toughest pill to swallow.

In a perfect world, the Golden Knights would create a team of 30 KHL players or simply steal them all from Chicago. Believe me, there is nothing I’d like more than to keep our entire roster intact. Unfortunately, the rules dictate that one of our players has to switch allegiances starting tonight.

Postseason specialist

Aberg has certainly been trending upwards in recent months. The 23-year-old winger is one of the six – yes, six – Swedes currently on the Predators roster. His past two seasons have been split between Milwaukee and Nashville, similarly to many in the Western Conference Champion’s lineup. In his career with Nashville, he’s been active for a total of 18 playoff and 15 regular season games.

In the 2016-2017 postseason, Aberg has tallied 5 points, including 2 goals. The point total placed him above ten other Nashville forwards during the postseason run. Perhaps most memorably, he contributed to the six-goal rout that won the Western Conference.

Ballistics on a budget

As much as I, like many of you, like James Neal in a Predators jersey, he’s awfully expensive. I could be wrong, but I don’t see Neal improving substantially in the future. The winger will be 30 years old at the start of the 2017-2018 season. While he’s likely still several years from retirement, his prime is in the past.

Neal has one year remaining on his $5,000,000 contract. Aberg, who currently has RFA status, would likely re-sign with Nashville for less than $1,000,000. It’s not an easy question to answer, but one asks whether James Neal will really be 5 times better than Pontus Aberg next season. For a team with such immense scoring depth, paying a large sum for a regressing sniper might not be the best course of action.

Cooler heads prevail

Most notably, in the recent postseason, Neal and Sissons combined for 30 penalty infraction minutes in 22 games played. Aberg, who played in 16 of those games, recorded a grand total of only 2 minutes. Discipline is an absolute necessity for a successful team in the NHL (minus, inexplicably, Anaheim), and Aberg definitely has it. Neal, especially, is infamous for taking ill-advised penalties at crucial times.

In the end, it’s pretty much a tossup. Certainly, the Nashville Predators would rather not lose any players during the offseason, but reality must be faced. James Neal undoubtedly has scoring talent, toughness, and experience. Colton Sissons has youth and a background in leadership. Pontus Aberg, while relatively obscure, might have the golden combination of those and other factors. It’s unclear at this point, but his potential might just be the asset worth saving in this expansion draft.

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Regardless, the Expansion Draft decision will not be an easy one to swallow.