Nashville Predators: Who’s the Best Predator?
The Nashville Predators are a team on the rise, with budding young stars stepping into leading roles beside established veteran figures- but who is the best player on the roster?
It’s the depths of the hockey offseason- the post-draft, post-free agent frenzy, pre-pre-season slumber. With only sparse reports of re-signings and leftover free-agent pickups peppering the summer heat, it’s the perfect time for posing hypotheticals and propping up ridiculous, essentially meaningless questions. Discourse, after all, is what keeps us human.
So let’s pose a big, fun question to chew on: who, exactly, is the best hockey player on the Nashville Predators roster? A team that came one game away from the Western Conference Finals is clearly chock full of talent, but which jersey harbors the most?
The Nashville Predators have long relied on some veteran franchise forces, but Smashville is currently undergoing a major evolution via a healthy injection of youth talent. Oh, and there may have been a few trades along the way that provided the team with significant doses of firepower.
Let’s take a look at a few players who have a legitimate claim at being the best Nashville Predator:
Next: Story Continued: The Best Predator?
If one were to open this question up to the entire NHL and its fanbase, P.K. Subban would surely be the resounding answer. The defenseman is by a large margin the most popular player on the team and owns the distinction of being the first real superstar in his prime to call Smashville home.
The dynamic 27-year-old skater is a former Norris Trophy winner and notched 51 points last season in a Montreal Canadian system that didn’t capitalize on his unique style and skill set. Subban is expected to set the hockey world on fire in the up-tempo, offensively oriented defensive role he will be filling for the Nashville Predators, but until he actually takes to the ice in a gold jersey can he be considered the best Predator?
How about someone who has already established their ability to score in Smashville, and has only just begun their career?
Next: Story Continued: The Young Gun
The Swedish Sensation has led the Nashville Predators in both goals and total points in each of the past two seasons- and he’s only two full seasons into his NHL career. The 21-year-old winger has topped the 60-point mark in both campaigns and secured his future in gold after signing a six-year extension earlier this offseason.
Forsberg wields the stick that has brought head coach Peter Laviolette’s offensive vision to reality, and he tied the Nashville franchise record for goals (33) along the way. He and his wicked wristshot have been the face of both a resurgent Nashville Predator forward corps and a rising youth movement.
But the thing that could make him the best Nashville Predator? He’s getting better. Forsberg’s game has improved each year and is looking to grow again. The sniper has already made Smashville forget about the other Forsberg that once wore a Predator sweater (not an easily accomplished task) and may very well be in the conversation for having his number 9 hanging in the rafters a long, long, long time from now.
Another Predator lifer who may keep his numbers forever beneath his name?
Next: Story Continued: The Underrated Superstar
The elite-level talent of Roman Josi has been long-shrouded by the small Nashville market and his former All-World linemate Shea Weber– context always keeping him just on the fringes of the recognition he deserves (having gained two-top five Norris nods and his first All-Star appearance this past season).
The 26-year-old notched a career-high 61-points this past season, putting him behind only Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, and Kris Letang for scoring defensemen (if you’re making comparisons, that’s 10 points more than Subban). Josi has been the puck-carrying focal point of Laviolette’s defensive-activation scheme, which has nurtured the NHL’s highest scoring defense.
The Swiss skater has exploded the skates he was expected to fill of former Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter, and many believe he had surpassed Shea Weber in importance to the franchise before the former Captain’s departure. On that note- Josi’s name has been an immensely popular one amongst fans when discussing opinions on who should be the new Captain in Smashville.
Or, could the best player be one who changed the entire fortunes of the franchise?
Next: Story Continued: The Game Changer
The Nashville Predators season was stagnant at best, ominously bleak at worst last year when the front office pulled a monumental trigger that brought the franchise their first true number one center in Ryan Johansen. The former All-Star Game MVP’s presence righted the ship, helping to set both a franchise record point streak and driving the team to their most successful postseason ever.
The 2010 fourth overall draft pick maintains great size and elite-level skill, having notched 60 points or more in 3 of his 5 NHL seasons, and at (a freshly-turned) 24 years old, he’s arguably not yet reached his prime. His 71 points as a Blue Jacket in 2014-15 is the highest point total for a player on the Predator roster other than a 2010 James Neal campaign (when he was being fed by Penguins Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) and a trio of seasons long removed by Mike Ribeiro, who at this point in his career falls safely outside of this conversation.
Johansen has faced criticism for his level of maturity in the past, but his skill remains unquestionable as he pieced together a 60-point outing last year amidst a number of scratches and a transition to a new team with a new system. Another year older, he now has the opportunity to outgrow questions of maturity, settle into a new town, and put a franchise on his back while returning to 70-point form and unleashing the prime of his abilities.
And then there is the long-time franchise meal ticket:
Next: Story Continued: The Mask
Let’s get it straight- the 33-year-old goaltender has been wrought with inconsistencies since having hip surgery a few years back, yes. But let there be no mistake, no one on the Nashville Predators roster has been the single best player on the ice for his team as many nights over their career as Pekka Rinne.
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Barry Trotz stacked his Predator team upon Rinne’s shoulders, and those shoulders carried an offensively underwhelming unit to the postseason on multiple occasions. And while the Finnish All-Star’s play has been shaky in recent times, he was able to flash his world-class form at pinnacle moments during last year’s playoffs.
If Rinne is able to consistently capture the elite-level play he displayed in Smashville for years, the Nashville Predators have as good a chance of capturing Stanley Cup hardware as anyone in the league.
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Veteran sniper and Alternate Captain James Neal deserves an honorable mention for being a constant on-ice threat to the opposition, and a slim argument could be made for tossing in winger Craig Smith, based solely on how bad the Predators looked without him in last year’s playoffs. No matter your opinion on the matter, having so many options for best player on the team is a fantastic problem for the Nashville Predators to have.