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Nashville Predators: The 5 Best Draft Picks in Predator’s History

By Chad Minton

OTTAWA, ON - JUNE 21: 38th overall pick, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators poses for a portrait at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Place on June 21, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - JUNE 21: 38th overall pick, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators poses for a portrait at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft at Scotiabank Place on June 21, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Getty Images) /
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Pekka Rinne
Mar 25, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) waves to the crowd as he is honored before the game for his 500th career game at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

The goaltender who stabilized the franchise

You have to have strong goaltending to survive in this league. Just like in the NFL you need a great quarterback, in hockey you need elite goaltending. Pekka Rinne has brought that to the Predators over his ten seasons.

Rinne had very little buzz surrounding him as an eighth-round draft pick. His story is incredible, per a 2011 article from Gare Joyce of ESPN.com. There wasn’t much film to go off of due to him being a back-up, but the Predators decided to take him late in the draft.

Janne Kekalainen, who scouted Rinne for the Predators, was instantly convinced when he saw him play, per ESPN.com.

"I was impressed right away. You could easily tell he was mobile, but the most impressive thing was the energy, drive, sportsmanship oozing out of him. There had been a goalie taken the previous draft in the third round and I remember thinking, ‘If he was taken in the third, I have no problem taking (Rinne) in the second.'”"

Who knows where the Predators would be right now as a franchise if they don’t draft Rinne. They may have never locked up the goaltender position to become a consistent playoff contender. Rinne is a huge factor into why the Predators are what they are today.

This recent Stanley Cup Final run never comes to fruition without Rinne. The only knock you can have on Rinne is his tendency to be streaky. However, there have been countless clutch moments when Rinne stood on his head to take the Predators to huge victories.

To dive into the actual numbers, Rinne is the all-time franchise leader in every major statistical goaltender category. His career goals against average of 2.38 is the most impressive of them all. It was hard to not make him No.1, but there’s really only one true No.1 for the history of the Predators.

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