Nashville Predators: Deals That Sent the Predators To Another Level
Let’s be honest, Nashville Predators fans have way too many things to be thankful for right now. 8 wins in 9 games is something to cheer about.
Things are going way too well considering that associate captain Ryan Ellis hasn’t even played a game. The Predators aren’t sitting on top on the Western Conference, but there’s still nothing that I can find to complain about. I wish I could as I would write many more articles and get more respect from my peers. Nevertheless, here are five moves that shaped the Nashville Predators into what they are today.
Honorable Mention: The Kyle Turris Trade
It’s way too early to decide if the trade that sent Kyle Turris to the Predators, Matt Duchene to the Senators & a bunch of prospects to the Avalanche is in the favor of anybody involved. So far, it’s in the favor of the Predators. Duchene has been ineffective with the Senators. None of the people Colorado acquired has made an impact yet. But Kyle Turris has definitely made an impact with the Nashville Predators. He has restarted the careers of Craig Smith & Kevin Fiala & got the deciding shootout goal Wednesday night against the hated Habs. Turris has bought in, signed long-term and is down with whatever the Nashville Predators want to do. This did not happen in the past. Hockey players were afraid of going south of the Mason-Dixon Line and playing for Nashville. Now, everybody sees the excitement and wants in. It’s a glorious time.
5. David Legwand’s departure
David Legwand leaving the Predators felt like one of those deals where some poor fool that spent forever with a sorry franchise could catch on with a playoff contender for not much in return. It happens every year. Nashville was smart though. They wanted their top star early on that attained most of their franchise records to end up in a good place. Detriot seemed like a good place. It also seemed like a good place to get some good talent, and David Poile found Calle Jarnkrok in the Red Wings’ system.
Jarnkrok will be a controversial player for at least a few years. As long as James Neal keeps doing things in Las Vegas. It was a tough argument for the first part of this season. It’s already becoming an easier argument now. Pretty soon, we’ll probably shrug our shoulders like we do with the rest of the trades on this list.
I do think Legwand deserves some type of honor from Nashville, and hopefully that happens.
4. Peter Laviolette joins the fold
Whoever ended up following Barry Trotz as coach of the Nashville Predators was going to have a tough act to follow. There was a reason Trotz lasted fifteen seasons in Nashville. He was darn good. We all know that coaches only have a certain amount of time with a franchise.
Anybody except Peter Laviolette. The man that led the Carolina Hurricanes to a Cup & got the Philadelphia Flyers on the doorstep. I don’t know about other fans, but I quickly fell in line. Laviolette seemed like a man that knew what he was doing. As great as Trotz was, Laviolette seemed like a step up. So far, he has been. I occasionally see other Predators writers have legitimate criticism for Laviolette. It’s pretty amazing to me. As far as I can tell, this guy is on the ball. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before he raises another Cup.
3. The Weber/Subban Trade
Will any of us ever forget where we were when we heard the news? It was June 29, 2016. I was walking home from a Cincinnati Reds game with one of the most beautiful & sweetest women I will ever know. Once I got to my car, I got the news from my good friend Jeremy Lambert.
The Predators got P.K. Subban, and I wasn’t happy about giving up Shea Weber to get him. Weber was the one guy that gave the Predators some credibility. If NHL fans knew nothing else about Nashville, it was that they gave Shea Weber a ton of money. All deserved, I would say.
But I also figured that Weber would be moved at some point. Call it a hunch, I dunno what it was, but I figured that Shea Weber wouldn’t spend the entirety of that contract in Nashville. The tricky part is that whole cap recapture thing could bite the Preds in the butt at some point, so they had to get something really really really good for him if they didn’t think he could lead them to a Cup.
We know that P.K. Subban is really, really good. He’s a great hockey player. He has an incredible personality. If the Predators win a Cup with him on board, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The way things are looking right now…Hockey Hall of Famers will need to look for excuses to keep him out. Because he will raise the Cup before his career is over.
Shea Weber deserves to raise the Cup too. Unfortunately, the Montreal Canadiens don’t look like they will add to their collection anytime soon.
2. Filip Forsberg
April 3, 2013 is a date that will forever be marked in Nashville Predators history. It was when the ultimate magician David Polie convinced the Washington Capitals that Filip Forsberg was worth Martin Erat & Michael Latta.
See, the Capitals are always chasing the present. They always think they’re a player away. It was a desperation move made by a team desperate to make the cup finals. Now, everybody debates whether he’s a star or not. This argument is irrelevant to me. If he leads Nashville to a Cup, he’s a star. If not, he’s on the fringe. Let’s have the season play out before we decide.
1. RINNE’S CONTRACT!
Everybody loves to hate on Pekka Rinne. He’s too old. His contract gave him way too much money. There’s a funny thing about that. The way I see it, he’s done more to earn that money than anybody else on the roster. I know Pekka has his bad stretches. I know that I haven’t seen it this season. When he’s on his game, he’s one of the best in the NHL and it isn’t even close.
Keep Calm. We Have Rinne. This is one of my morals for the Nashville Predators’ 2017-18 season. As much as people want to say that he has weak stretches, I don’t think they’re any worse than some stretches from some other goalies.
Next: Who's Hurt Most By Ellis Injury
You can have any other goalie you want. I’ll take Rinne, When he’s on his game he’s unstoppable. We’ve seen it before and we will see it again.