Nashville Predators: October Awards for Predators
The Nashville Predators head into November looking to improve their position in the standings. Before they do that, let’s look back at October.
As October comes to an end, we can now reflect on the first calendar month of the NHL season. The Nashville Predators sit at the middle of the Western Conference standings. It’s a familiar place for Nashville. While some Predators fans may be disappointed with how the first month has gone, we’d be well-served to keep in mind that October 2016 went much worse.
After every month I hope to present awards for the best & worst of what happened to the Nashville Predators in the last 30-31 days. It will serve as a recap of the highlights, the lowlights & the things you may have missed. It should be interesting to see which names appear consistently along with which names remain invisible.
Most Underutilized Predator: Samuel Girard
We at Predlines are fully on the #FreeGirard bandwagon. The nineteen year old Quebecois has been impressive in the four games we’ve seen him play so far. He has one goal & two assists to his limited time with the Predators. His 0.5 point shares ranks eighth on the team, ahead of Matt Irwin, Yannick Weber & Anthony Bitetto. It rates ahead of Ryan Johansen & a host of offensive players as well.
The numbers tell us that Samuel Girard has been a top-five defenseman on the Predators this season. Yet he remains a part-time player while Irwin, Weber & Bitetto split the minutes on the Predators’ much-maligned third defensive pairing. When Girard does play, he typically gets top-four level minutes alongside Mattias Ekholm.
Dollars & sense dictate that Girard won’t be around much longer. Ten games would put Girard on the first year of his entry-level contract. Nashville would like to avoid that if possible. Ideally, Irwin, Weber or Bitetto would make Girard’s presence on the squad unnecessary.
As long as they continue to under-perform, the calls to free Girard will continue.
Best Predators GIF:
"Arvi, Arvi, Arvi" pic.twitter.com/yNdb26zaiz
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) October 13, 2017
Filip Forsberg chanting Viktor Arvidsson‘s name along with the fans is what Predators hockey is all about. Such a fun and happy moment is what hockey is all about. It’s nice to see the players have as much fun as the fans.
Best Off-Ice Story: P.K.’s Blueline Buddies
With the recent activism in sports concerning police brutality towards African-Americans, many people wondered if Subban would weigh in on the issue. Some thought he might take a knee during the National Anthem as many in the NFL have. Subban opted not to and is instead taking measures within the community to address the lack of unity between police and the less fortunate. P.K.’s Blueline Buddies brings police officers & young people together for dinner & a hockey game in an attempt to build bonds between different parts of the community. Regardless of how you feel about the issues being discussed in sports right now, it’s great to see Subban do what he can to make things better.
Best Article About The Predators: “The Numbers: The Best Franchise In Sports” by Peter Keating, ESPN The Magazine
Peter Keating’s article about the Nashville Predators in ESPN The Magazine got quite a bit of attention. The Predators ran with the hype from the article and are now using it in marketing. Who can blame them? ESPN rarely talks about hockey, so if they say something good about you, go ahead and trumpet it to the heavens.
Not to pick at nits, but ESPN didn’t actually name Nashville the best franchise in sports. One writer said that if they still did The Ultimate Standings, the Predators would probably rank first due to their on-ice & off-ice performance. They didn’t actually do the project. We don’t know how Nashville rates compared to other sports franchises in 2017. I’d rate them ahead of the other franchises I root for…but since they’re the Cincinnati Reds & Bengals that isn’t saying much.
It’s still a fun article to read and makes you feel good about the franchise you support. Hopefully the behind the scenes people will use it as motivation to step their game up even more.
Best Former Predator: James Neal
The Nashville Predators’ strategy heading into the expansion draft faced a ton of criticism. We all had our theories. Some wanted the 4-4 model with James Neal protected along with the JoFA line. Some wanted the 7-3 model that would have left Mattias Ekholm or Ryan Ellis exposed. And some were happy with the way Nashville went about it.
The argument for Calle Jarnkrok over Neal was largely based off of two things:
Contract: Neal’s contract expires at the end of the 2017-18 season. Jarnkrok’s is a smaller cap hit & lasts through 2021-22.
Potential: Jarnkrok could be the second center the Predators are looking for. He’s 26 & Neal is 30. When Neal is on the downswing, Jarnkrok will be in his prime.
We won’t know whether Nashville made the right choice for a few years. Based on one month of results, the choice was wrong. In nine games as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Neal has scored seven goals, including three game-winners. His 31.8 shot percentage is better than anybody on the Predators. His Corsi & Fenwick percentages are in the 49s, so maybe he’s not totally perfect. Either way, he is already a folk hero among Las Vegas hockey fans.
Jarnkrok had an October to forget. He had a grand total of one goal & one assist. His Corsi & Fenwick percentages were in the 44s. He had a couple different line combinations, none of which got anything going offensively. If he had done anything productive it would have lessened the blow of Neal leading Vegas to great things early in their existence. But he didn’t.
If Vegas defies the odds and has a successful first season, James Neal will be a large part of it. Nashville fans will be bitter, and it’s not like you can blame them. Remember the Nashville Predators Expansion Draft? Back then, nobody cared whether the new city got a competitive team or not. They got the scraps nobody else in the league wanted. Now the NHL is smarter. Nashville pays the price coming and going.
Best Predators Game: October 10 vs. Philadelphia Flyers (6-5 win)
There have been better performances by the Nashville Predators, but there hasn’t been a more entertaining game this season. After two road losses, the Predators finally got to make their home debut. The Western Conference Champion banner was raised. Everybody was excited for hockey!
Nashville was ahead 3-0 after the first 25 minutes of play. The Flyers came back with five straight goals to send us all heading towards the ledge. Fortunately, Nashville came back and scored three goals, the final two within 90 seconds of regulation expiring.
The game had everything that you could ask for. Although maybe a little more stress than we would like.
Worst Predators Game: October 28 vs. New York Islanders (6-2 loss)
Sometimes teams come out flat on the second night of a back to back. Especially when night one is on the road against their bitter rival. The Predators overlooked the Islanders on their way to a three-day rest and got humiliated as a result. Juuse Saros couldn’t stop the pucks and didn’t have much help in front of him. It was a bitter way to end the first month of the regular season. Perhaps it will serve as a reminder that Nashville still has miles to go before the ultimate goal.
Best Offensive Predator: Filip Forsberg
Forsberg set a franchise record with his eight goals in the month of October. This is quite the contract from his start to the 2016-17 season. Forsberg didn’t score until November 12th last season. If this is a sign of things to come, Forsberg should finally take his place as one of the NHL’s top stars this season.
He’s certainly separated himself from the rest of his teammates. Forsberg’s 1.5 offensive point shares rate 0.8 higher than the Predator with the second-most (P.K. Subban). He has five more goals to his name than the three Predators tied for second. It’s obvious who the star on offense is for Nashville. Now we need to know who’s going to help him.
Most Valuable Predator: Pekka Rinne
Rinne got off to a little bit of a rough start in his first couple of games. Opening Night was a bit of a disaster and the Philadelphia Flyers got on him in the Predators’ home opener. Since those starts, he’s been almost impenetrable. After one month, Rinne has a 5-1-2 record with 1.86 GAA (2nd in the NHL) & a .940 save percentage (3rd in the NHL).
With Nashville’s offense struggling to find a rhythm, Rinne has kept the Predators in nearly every game he’s played. This is nothing new, as it’s been Rinne’s role for most of his time in Nashville. When the Predators falter, Rinne is the rock they can fall back on.
Next: Scariest players in Predators' history
Except when he’s inconsistent. Which I always believed was a little overplayed until last year’s Stanley Cup Playoff run. He was the world’s greatest the first three rounds, then the world’s worst in Pittsburgh. Bad Rinne can rear his ugly mask from time to time. Hopefully when it happens, the Predators offense & Juuse Saros will be out of their slump.