Nashville Predators: Midseason Grades for the Young Guns
By Michael Wade
Frédérick Gaudreau: 24 years old
Freddy Hockey is still more of a Milwaukee Admiral than a Nashville Predator, but he has contributed in a sizable number of games this year. In his 18 appearances, he’s put up just three points.
Gaudreau has a soft spot in my heart, since he’s yet to be given a real chance at the NHL level. He’s called up and reassigned regularly; I wouldn’t be surprised if he knows every TSA agent’s name at General Mitchell International Airport by now. Not only are his appearances inconsistent, he frequently features on the fourth line. That’s not exactly an environment that breeds success in a young center.
Regardless, his sample size is enough to consider his possession numbers:
| TOI/GP | FF% | HDCF% | oZS% |
| 9:14 | 45.25 | 35.59 | 39.00 |
Oof. He’s producing the team’s second-lowest time on ice, seventh-lowest Fenwick percentage, and single worst high-danger percentage. He is forced to play extremely defensively, but opponents are simply trampling his line.
It may be unpopular, but I can’t give the guy a failing grade. He simply hasn’t had a chance to produce well. Bouncing between Wisconsin and Tennessee and being handcuffed to Cody McLeod will not foster production in a developing center. He gets by on the slimmest of margins from me.