Nashville Predators: Five Reasons The Predators Will Dominate This Season

4. The New Guys

I struggled with what to call this slide. These are players on the Predators who have less than two years of experience on the team. For this we’re focusing on Kevin Fiala, Scott Hartnell, Nick Bonino, Pontus Aberg.

Kevin Fiala played most of the last season in the NHL and wasn’t exactly impressive until the playoffs. Fiala played fourth line minutes with some less than quality linemates, so if he gets the top six minutes he deserves, expect those stats to go way up. Twenty plus goals and fourty points is a reasonable goal for the speedy sophomore.

Scott Hartnell is an aging power forward and the signs of wear and tear on his body are evident. But he isn’t giving up. Thirty-seven points in seventy-eight games is incredible for a thirty-five year old. Especially when you consider that Hartnell was playing fourth line minutes. Expect Hartnell to make his biggest impact in front of the net on the power play. Hartnell could easily score twenty-five points on the third line and power play.

Two time cup winner Nick Bonino brings center depth that the Predators desperately needed. He’s a decent playmaker that can score when needed too. He’s an excellent penalty killer that’ll immediately bolster that already elite unit.

Pontus Aberg had an exciting playoffs. Now he’ll look to continue his impressive performance through the regular season. I consider him to be Viktor Arvidsson lite. He may never put up close to sixty points, but I’d say thirty is not unfair. I’m not sure where Aberg will fit in the line-up, but I expect him to end up on the second line by the end of the season.