Nashville Predators: Could William Nylander or others fill vacancy left by Viktor Arvidsson?

NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 06: Viktor Arvidsson #33 of the Nashville Predators celebrates his goal at 16:42 of the second period- against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on October 06, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 06: Ryan Hartman #38 of the Nashville Predators skates against the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on October 06, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The Predators defeated the Islanders 4-3. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Option #1

Arvidsson is a 30-goal scorer. They just don’t grow on trees. And, he is always working. I cannot recall a moment of time when I felt Arvidsson was slacking off or taking it a bit easy. The first player that comes to mind for me is Ryan Hartman.

For two seasons in a row, Hartman achieved 31 points. In 2016-17, he tallied 19 goals with the Chicago Blackhawks. He earned only 11 goals last season, but part of that was learning a new team in Nashville. The young winger has 5 goals so far this season but on 32 shots. Those numbers are similar to Arvidsson’s. Hartman also has 13 high-danger chances on his own.

The main difference? Hartman is deployed in the offensive zone only 23% of the time, a far cry from Arvidsson’s 68%. Can Hartman earn the chances and goals worthy of top-line time? Maybe.

There is no doubting Hartman’s effort. He flies around the ice with tons of grit and energy. Honestly, he is my pick for the role.

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