Nashville Predators: Midseason Grades for the Young Guns

Pontus Åberg: 24 years old

Swedish winger Pontus Aberg certainly hasn’t stolen any shows this year. He has, though, performed well in a difficult role. In addition to a brief conditioning assignment in Milwaukee, he’s been scratched for a handful of games. Frequently, he hops around the lines to fill gaps created by injuries or scratches.

From a statistical perspective, it’s not great from Aberg. In 26 games played, he’s recorded five points from two goals and three assists. Of course, a player in Aberg’s role isn’t really expected to be a points monster. Here’s a look at some of his possession numbers.

These numbers aren’t great, but aren’t too bad either. A good rule of thumb is that you don’t want to see sub-50% possession stats for a player with a 50-plus% offensive zone start share. However, each of his numbers are close enough to the 50% mark to cut him some slack.

With a salary of just $650,000, Aberg is on pace for roughly 15 points per million dollars in cap hit. Because of his small price tag and inconsistent assignments, he gets a passing grade.

Midseason grade: C+