Nashville Predators: Five Overlooked Predators That Will Make An Impact
It won’t just be the top-line studs that dictate the success of the Nashville Predators in 2017-18. Several often overlooked players that will produce.
Every sports team has guys that go overlooked. The Nashville Predators are no different. We know Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen & Viktor Arvidsson will be important in 2017-18. Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis & Mattias Ekholm draw a lot of discussion from fans. Pekka Rinne & Juuse Saros are the subject of endless speculation & prognostication.
P.K. Subban has never gone overlooked a day in his life.
There are some Predators that go overlooked pretty often. You won’t hear these five names pop up often in prediction columns. They might not even appear in line projections. However, they will have an impact on the success of the 2017-18 Nashville Predators one way or another.
Matt Irwin
Nashville’s defensive setup was fairly easy when people weren’t hurt last year. Josi-Ellis, Subban-Ekholm, Irwin-Weber. Things change this season due to the addition of Alexei Emelin. Emelin makes five, and the re-emergence of Anthony Bitetto means there are three guys fighting for one spot most nights.
My colleague George Matarangas looked at the back side of the defense last week. He showed us that Matt Irwin was the superior defender out of the choices. I expect the coaching staff knows this & Irwin will get most of the starts out of the trio. He figured things out & had his best NHL season by far in 2016-17. He loaded up on the hits & blocks last season on the third line. He had a plus-minus of +15. Good things happened when Matt Irwin was on the ice and that should continue this season.
Vladislav Kamenev
Vladislav Kamenev has only two NHL games to his credit. His time in Milwaukee probably merits consideration for a callup, though. He had the second-most points on the Admirals behind Pontus Aberg & the best plus-minus ratio. He’s proven his worth on that level and might be ready for a new challenge.
The problem is he has a lot of competition. Aberg & Freddy Gaudreau got the call for the playoffs over Kamenev. Each man justified Peter Laviolette‘s decision of taking him. Heading into training camp, Kamenev will have to impress to jump over them onto the roster.
I see him making it to Nashville at some point in the season. Maybe not at the beginning. Once people start getting hurt in Nashville, he’ll be one of the top options left in Milwaukee. At 21 years old his best days are ahead of him, but he’ll have some moments this season.
Cody McLeod
Cody McLeod doesn’t get a lot of love from the online community for his play. Every time his name would appear in the lineup during the playoffs, fans would complain. Why was Cody in over a younger, more skilled player? He’s a liability on offense. All he does is get stupid penalties.
The reason was simple: McLeod was there to be an enforcer. As long as fighting is part of hockey, teams need guys like him. Some of you might not like that. You may prefer your hockey without fighting & without guys that are just there to fight. That’s not happening anytime soon.
When Nashville plays physical teams, McLeod will be in the lineup. People will whine & moan. Sometimes he’ll make dumb plays. There will be games this year where he makes a huge positive play. Some Predators fans will act like he didn’t, but they will be lying.
I can’t lie, I like Cody for some reason. For one thing, he just looks like a hockey player. For another thing, I love a guy that constantly fights. You know it’s coming every game, you just have to laugh about it when it happens.
Miikka Salomaki
Miikka Salomaki enters the final year of his contract this season. It’s not great timing, as he missed most of last season due to the dreaded “undisclosed injury”. He was available for the playoffs but saw no ice time. If Salomaki has a future with the Predators, he needs to show something this year.
What can he show? Salomaki is a physical player, the kind of guy that fits in well with Austin Watson. They had good numbers together in very limited time last season. The 24 year old can hit people really hard. The more he does that, the more success Nashville will find.
Craig Smith
Unlike most on this list, Craig Smith has been a Predators regular for quite some time. At six seasons in Nashville, he’s one of the team’s longest tenured players. So how did he become overlooked?
Simple: he wasn’t very good last season. He had his lowest point total in a full-length season. His postseason wasn’t a whole lot better, which it really needed to be with other Predators leaving due to injury. One really nice goal against Matt Murray doesn’t make up for a full season of mediocrity. Smith went from a top-six regular to an afterthought really quick.
Smith needs to step his game up or he runs the risk of being replaced. There’s too much talent in this organization for him to make over $4 million doing very little. Sometimes guys need a little competition to get better, and that’s exactly what Smith will get this season. People like Aberg, Gaudreau & Kamenev want his slot. Will he let them take it?
If they do, it won’t be without a fight. I see Craig Smith making the difference in some Predators wins this season. He’s just entering the prime of his career, so maybe the best is yet to come. Predators fans & management certainly hope so.
Next: Top 5 Draft Picks in Predators' History
Most games won’t be determined by superstars. It’s not like Filip Forsberg can get a hat trick every single game. Every single member of the Nashville roster will help decide if 2017-18 is the next step up the ladder…or a step down.