Nashville Predators: Pekka Rinne Is Great, But He Will Regress Next Season

As magical as Pekka Rinne’s track record is for the Nashville Predators, we may be expecting too much if we think he can duplicate the 2017 playoff performance going into next season.

Expectations are obviously high for Pekka Rinne and the Predators after their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. The key for next season will be if Rinne can keep up the momentum, or will he simply fall back to the streaky goaltender that we’ve come to know.

I’d love to think that Rinne will bottle up whatever got him to play like an all-time great in the

playoffs, but I’m reserved to think he’ll come back down to reality. Now the Predators have to make sure they’re improving in other areas to offset Rinne’s likely regression.

To be clear, this isn’t to say that Rinne will suddenly be a useless goaltender and a liability. He’s still a top-tier goaltender, but to think he’ll have a 95 save percentage is fool’s gold. To think he’ll put the team on his back again, while clinging onto the final playoff spot is a stretch.

Rinne’s open letter to Nashville Predators fans was absolutely heartwarming and the mark of one of the nicer athletes in all of professional sports, per the Player’s Tribune. In fitting fashion, the letter ends with this:

"But eventually, I guarantee it — Nashville will win a Cup.All the great hockey towns do."

The Future For Rinne

The fact is that Rinne will turn 35 later this year, and more games off for rest is crucial. Is Juuse Saros ready to start playing a vital role as Rinne’s eventual replacement? He’ll have to keep Rinne fresh a lot more now with increased starts. There are flashes of Saros being ready to take over the reins and get wins in Rinne’s absence. However, there’s simply no evidence that he is ready to be that guy during June hockey.

Remember, in the playoff games that Rinne showed that he was human, the Predators struggled. It didn’t happen often, but offsetting his regression into just an average goaltender remains problematic for this team. This team obviously expects more now than just playoff appearances.

For the Predators to stay at the top of the Western Conference, heavily relying on Rinne to stay at his peak is a scary proposition. Their young guns like Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and others are the ones that need to carry more of the bulk. Free agency was a success with the additions of Nick Bonino and Scott Hartnell, among others.

Rinne still has plenty left to bring, and is the team’s most critical piece to returning to the mountain top. Enough so that the Predators can now say they have conference championship to hang in the rafters.

Next: Four Burning Preds Questions for the Water Cooler

However, another all-time great streak from Rinne next season, and without a doubt the Nashville Predators will be playing in June again. To get to hoist the Stanley Cup, more help will have to come in the likelihood that he falls back.