Kyle Turris
Let’s start with the elephant in the room that is Kyle Turris. He has these lofty expectations set for him mainly due to his enormous contract. One that I believe is one of GM David Poile’s few misses.
You can’t blame Turris for getting paid, but you can be extremely disappointed in his lack of production. Failing to find a trade partner for him yet, the Predators now have to find a place for him on the roster. Is it possible he bounces back in a big way this coming season? Of course it is, but it’s hard to feel confident in that happening. He’s going to be under a huge microscope on opening night of the regular season.
Turris doesn’t necessarily have to pile on the goals out of the gate, but he does need to be productive in some way. That might mean just getting quality shots on goal, tallying some assists and not being a liability on the ice. So many of his numbers were career lows, or near career lows, last season. We don’t need him to be an elite scoring machine, but we do need him to make his teammates around him better and find a productive place on this roster.