Nashville Predators: 5 Thoughts Friday, September 22
The Nashville Predators have been on my mind a lot recently. As most of you can tell by the quantity of my articles. But I still have a few thoughts.
The Nashville Predators are a third of the way through the pre-season. But they’ve been a lightning rod for rumors over the past few months. Whether or not these rumors hold any truth is beyond my knowledge but where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. General Manager David Poile is an excellent trade negotiator so I don’t think he will overpay if a trade happens. But that might mean the Nashville Predators miss out. Although, sometimes missing out means dodging a bullet.
5. The Nashville Predators are out of the Duchene Sweepstakes
Scouts from the Canucks, Canadiens, Ducks, Blues, Flames, Devils, and Sabres were on hand for an Avalanche pre-season game. Doesn’t sound too important at first glance, but it’s odd the Predators weren’t there. The other teams were there to most likely to scout Matt Duchene. Considering as there’s not much else on the Avalanche to see. General Manager Joe Sakic is demanding a king’s ransom for the 26 year old. Word on the block is the Avalanche want a top four defenceman and a first round pick/ blue chip prospect. The asking price for the Predators was Mattias Ekholm and a first round pick, maybe not the worst asking price. But losing Ryan Ellis for 5 months or so now puts an increased importance on Ekholm. So, unless the price comes down to Alexei Emelin and a first, Duchene won’t be a Predator.
4. A real test for Carrier and Girard
Pre-season games are all about letting the kids prove their worth and tonight is a real, honest to God, test. Steven Stamkos is making his return to the NHL tonight after missing close to an entire NHL season. And to make matters worse, Nikita Kucherov will also dress tonight. To refresh some people’s minds, Stamkos potted 20 points in 17 games and Kucherov scored 85 points in 74 games last year.
The only “real NHLers” on the defense tonight is Anthony Bitetto and Yannick Weber. Those two are barely third pairing defencemen on a good day. So I think Alexandre Carrier and Samuel Girard will take on top four competition. Likely that means Stamkos or Kucherov. Carrier is more suited to handle this but even he’ll have issues. Girard is an offensively focused defenceman who needs a lot of work on defense so he might get badly exposed. I like the trial by fire method but this may be a trial by volcano. We’ll know how much work both prospects need after today, that’s for sure.
3. Salomaki is playing his way onto the roster
Gotta love when a player is on a mission. Miikka Salomaki came out like a man on fire with two goals and two hits last game. His good play is paying off as Salomaki is now going to play first line minutes versus the Lightning. His linemates will most likely be Pontus Aberg and either Colton Sissons or Vladislav Kamenev. Definitely a step up from the linemates from game one.
Salomaki’s advanced stats from game one weren’t impressive, with an average Corsi score of 50. His Fenwick score was even worse at 33.33. This basically means that while Salomaki produced shots, not a lot of them actually hit the net. Look for both scores to increase as Salomaki gets better playing time and linemates.
2. Who are the Nashville Predators top four?
Well, we know the players. Alexei Emelin, P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm. But what will the lines be? There are strong cases to keep Subban and Ekholm together, but maybe Josi needs Ekholm more. A stronger defensive partner would allow Josi to play his offensive brand of hockey. Meanwhile, Subban and Emelin would still be a mean shutdown pair to play against.
Emelin looked like an anchor during game one but that’s just game one. Let’s remember that Subban looked lost for the first month of the season last year. I absolutely think that Emelin could be a great piece on the third pair. But he can also fit in the top four as a stop-gap if he has the right linemate. Subban is that linemate in my mind.
1. Pettersson or Kamenev
Who should start at center versus the Tampa Bay Lightning? In game one, Emil Pettersson had a goal but Kamenev had better possession metrics. The only one who knows for sure is Peter Laviolette. I personally think Pettersson needs more time in the AHL before he’s ready for professional hockey on the North American ice. Kamenev, on the other hand, is ready and has had more experience in the NHL. I look forward to both of their impacts against the Lightning.