Nashville Predators: Assembling Franchise’s All-Time Best Offensive Weapons
Although historically not being known as an offensive powerhouse, the Nashville Predators have had plenty to choose from in team history. Here’s their top two lines going back nearly 20 years.
Two decades in the NHL is quickly approaching for the Nashville Predators, who were once an experimental expansion team in 1998.
Over their time in the league, the Predators have amassed 10 playoff appearances. Only three times have they missed the playoffs since the 2005-06 season. Plenty of great players have worn the Predators uniform over the years, with many of them as original draft picks.
However, the Predators are still known overwhelmingly as a blue collar team that thrives off of strong goaltending. They’ve never been confused as a lethal offensive team. Times are changing with their current crop of young talent. With that said, look over their history. There’s been plenty of great offensive players, and now let’s assemble the best of the best on the top two lines.
Left Wing- Filip Forsberg
Three seasons of lethal offensive hockey from Filip Forsberg is a large enough sample size for me to already put him on the all-time best scorer list for the Predators. You have to remember this team doesn’t have a rich history of scoring threats. Forsberg is on a fast track to become the franchise’s best ever if he keeps up this pace.
To put it into perspective, Forsberg nearly cracked 30 goals as a rookie. He’s followed that up with seasons of 33 goals and 31 goals. He’s going to keep ascending, and I fully expect to watch him become one of the top offensive players in the league.
Left Wing- Paul Kariya
Even with only two seasons in a Predators uniform, Paul Kariya has to be on here. He’s one of the newest members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and is the first true offensive superstar in Predators history.
The addition of Kariya in 2005 made that team really fun to watch. At that time, the Predators had already made a their first ever trip to the playoffs. The problem was no one thought they could go any further than the first round. Kariya changed that belief with his offensive firepower that added some flash to an otherwise boring team that had to grind out wins in 2-1 fashion.
Right Wing- Martin Erat
Another player that will forever be synonymous with the Nashville Predators’ history is Martin Erat. During the years when the franchise was trying to stay afloat, Erat was the steady contributor. He’s the class act and outstanding leader you want on your team.
On top of the intangibles, Erat was the ultimate set-up man. He had a string of six seasons where he tallied up 30-plus assists in all but one. His goal outputs aren’t overly impressive, but he played a direct role in so many scoring opportunities during his time. Without Erat, those Predators teams aren’t reaching the playoffs.
Right Wing- Patric Hornqvist
It was tough to see Patric Hornqvist traded at the time, even though it was for James Neal. The trade worked out great for both teams, but Hornqvist’s ability to set up shop in front of the net was brilliant. He made an offensively challenged Predators team much better at manufacturing scoring chances.
His short stint doesn’t do him justice for the type of rare scorer the Predators had at their disposal. As primarily a right winger, he easily makes this list. There isn’t a plethora of great right wingers in Predators history, but Hornqvist is an exception. Imagine if he would’ve stayed. We would be talking maybe top-five Predator all-time.
Center- David Legwand
The guy who was there when it all started. Those early teams had little to no scoring outside of David Legwand, the franchise’s original draft pick. Another player who wasn’t going to reel off 30-goal seasons every year, but was that reliable contributor on offense.
Legwand’s best offensive season was 2006-07 with 63 points. He finished off his Predators career with a 30-assist season back in 2014. With better talent around him in those early years, he would’ve had better offensive outputs.
This isn’t a knock on Legwand, but this position isn’t full of a lot of talent in the team’s history. It’s a position that has never been solidified outside of a few.
Center– Mike Fisher
Another current player that helped carry this franchise to its first Stanley Cup Final berth, Mike Fisher might end up on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore when it’s all said and done.
Fisher does all of the little things that go unnoticed to keep the offensive pressure going. He battles for pucks on the boards, sets teammates up and scores those dirty goals. He’s the model of consistency that you can’t pass up on this list. This position was never a strong one for the Predators franchise until Fisher came along.
Let’s hope that Fisher sticks around for another season or two. If nothing else, he has to retire a Predator. His star-power alone makes him an all-time great and fan-favorite.
This list wasn’t easy to compile with the current crop of young talent. With that said, these players you can make solid arguments for. Here’s my honorable mention for offensive weapons that were ever so close to cracking the top two lines.
Viktor Arvidsson
The sample size is simply too small for me to include Viktor Arvidsson. One full season, although great, isn’t enough. We’ll get plenty more opportunities to see more of him in the coming years.
Arvidsson has his new seven-year contract official, per Jeremy K. Gover of the Predators Radio Network:
#Preds announce they've signed Viktor Arvidsson to a 7yr, $29.75m deal (AAV $4.25m) through 2023-24.
— なぎ裏垢女子 (@govertime) July 23, 2017
Thankfully, Arvidsson will be in Nashville for the foreseeable future. There’s no doubt he’s going to be a regular 30-goal scorer, and possibly a 40-goal scorer. Until then, he’s on the outside looking in for all-time great Predators offensive players.
James Neal
As awesome as James Neal was in his time with the Predators, he came up a bit short of my expectations. He’s a tough loss in the expansion draft, but he was a bit too streaky. He’s still an outstanding scorer that had flashes of electrifying moments, but he comes up just short of being considered all-time great.
Steve Sullivan
You might remember how challenging it was for the Predators to score when Steve Sullivan came aboard in 2005. Wasting little time upon arrival in Nashville, Sullivan put up a hat trick in his first game. He put a jolt of energy into the offensive attack for a team that lived off of winning games by grinding out one or two goals.
Sullivan ultimately lost out to Forsberg to crack the top two lines. Forsberg is already accomplishing what Sullivan did as a veteran. It’s a tough call to leave Sullivan off.
Scott Hartnell
Scott Hartnell is once again a member of the Nashville Predators, but he’ll be more about veteran leadership and less about scoring this time around. He’s another left winger that was a huge part of the early Predators teams that were new to making the playoffs. By the time he really reached his offensive peak he was lost to the Flyers.