Nashville Predators: Who can make a case for the All Star Game?

The Nashville Predators have been on fire this year as they are first in the Western Conference. Many Predators players deserve for their name to be considered in the All-Star.

The NHL All-Star game this year will be held at the AMALIE Arena in Tampa, Florida, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This will be the 63rd All-Star game in NHL history and will be held on January  27th and 28th.

This will be the third All-Star game in which it is a 3-on-3 tournament, split up into each of the divisions. They first tried this method in 2016 in Nashville, and after the fans and the NHL liking it, they decided to keep it going.

Before the All-Star game itself, there will be many different skills competitions, such as the fastest skater, hardest shot, as well as a shootout. Each division will select 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, and one goalie.

Last season, the Predators only had one player selected to the All-Star game. P.K. Subban was the only Predator selected, as he was the captain of the Central Division team. The year before, when the All-Star game was held in Nashville, the Nashville Predators had 4 players selected to the All-Star game. Roman Josi, James Neal, Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne were selected that year.

The Predators have been playing great hockey so far this year, and a few players stick out. In the next few slides, I will talk about who I think should be considered to make the All-Star team. Obviously, not all these guys will make it, but every single one can make the case for it.

PK Subban

P.K. Subban has been a fan favorite for many Predators fans ever since he arrived in Nashville. He has put up good numbers so far this season for the Predators as he has 24 total points with seven goals and 17 assists.

Subban is 10th among defensemen in points scored and is tied 2nd in goals scored by a defensemen, joined by fellow Predators captain Roman Josi. He has made it to the last two All-Star games, and was also the captain for the Central Division last year.

So far, he is leading the Captain vote.

Subban also has one of the fastest slapshots in the NHL right now, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can win the hardest slapshot challenge.

The Predators’ defensemen seems to score his goals in spurts this season, but that shouldn’t hold him back from an All-Star appearance.

Filip Forsberg

Filip Forsberg has played great for the Predators this year. Forsberg leads the team in points this season so far as he has a total of 33. He had 15 goals and 18 assists so far. At this point last season, he only had 19 points.

Forsberg has produced excellent numbers this season on the power play. He is 2nd in the NHL with 9 power play goals so far.

Forsberg also has also scored a point in every single home game that the Predators have had this season. That stat is impressive, and also goes to show how dominant the Predators have been at home this season.

Forsberg has one All-Star appearance before as a Predator, as he played in the 2015 All-Star in Columbus. He has put up very consistent numbers throughout his career in Nashville, but has only appeared once.

Forsberg has the best shot out of all the Predators to make the All-Star team. He has put up great numbers so far for the Predators and has been a key asset to the Predators success recently.

Kevin Fiala

If we are going off recent success, I personally believe Kevin Fiala should have a spot locked in the All Star game. It is hard to find many other players that are on the hot streak that Fiala is on right now.

Fiala has points in the Predators last eight games and has a goal in all but one of those games. Part of the reason he is on this hot streak is because of his line. Since the addition of Turris, Fiala’s numbers have increased tremendously, as well as Craig Smith’s.

Fiala had a slow start to the year, but has turned that around, especially in the month of December. In the Predator’s nine games so far in December, Fiala has 12 points, including eight goals.

Fiala already has more points so far this year than he did last year in 54 games. He only put up 16 total points last year, in which he already has that number this year just in assists.

Fiala is 2nd on the team right now in points with 26 after his point streak. If the Fiala-Turris-Smith line can keep up their success over the next few weeks before the All-Star break, all three players can make a case for the All-Star game.

Pekka Rinne

Pekka Rinne has been very impressive in-goal so far this season for the Predators. He has been in-goal for 26 games so far this season, and has a record of 18-5-3.

Rinne, as well as Saros, has been a key part of the Predators success in recent weeks, especially during their three-game road trip last week in Canada.

Rinne is tied for 3rd in the league right now with those 18 wins. The Predators’ goalie is 5th in save percentage with .927, and 6th in Goals Against Average with 2.36, but Central Division foe, Corey Crawford is 2nd in both of those categories. Rinne has Crawford in shutouts though, as Rinne is 2nd in the league with three shutouts.

Rinne has been an impressive goalie throughout his career, but only has one All-Star appearance, so it would be nice to see the 35-year old make it to another All-Star game.

Only 5 regulation losses so far at this point in the season is very impressive for a goalie, and that can make a strong argument for Rinne to be the goalie for the Central Division in the All-Star game.

Viktor Arvidsson

Viktor Arvidsson has been one of the more impressive players for the Predators over the last few years. Although he is one of the smallest players on the ice, he is one of the toughest out there and can get you a goal when you need it.

Arvi is 3rd on the team right now in points, as he has a total of 23 points. He has 11 goals and 12 assists on the year.

Arvi picked up his 100th total point the other night in the win against the Calgary Flames. Like Fiala, Arvi has increased his point totals because of his line, as he had 61 points last season as he was a part of the JOFA line.

I personally believe Arvidsson is an underdog to make an All-Star appearance, but I do think he deserves a spot as he has been one of the best players on the Predators this season.

Craig Smith

Craig Smith has been excellent this season for the Predators as he has increased his point total tremendously. He had struggled to put up points over the past few seasons, as he only had 29 points last season.

Smith has already put up 22 points this season, with 12 goals and 10 assists. Smith has been a key part of the Predators success this season, as Smith has started to score more and more goals. His number of goals had decreased each season ever since the 2013-2014 season, but already has 12 goals so far only 33 games into the season.

To show how good Smith has been this year, he had 12 total goals last season in 78 games played.  Smith has had success on the power play so far this season as he has 5 power play goals, which is good for 2nd on the team.

Smith’s point total, like Fiala’s, has increased with the addition of Turris. I do personally think that one player from the Fiala-Turris-Smith line will have a great chance to make the All-Star game, but it’ll be difficult to see which one will be picked.