The Nashville Predators will be starting their season with a split-squad doubleheader against the Florida Panthers, in which they will be looking to set the tone for how this season is going to go.
In this doubleheader, both the Nashville Predators prospect pool, as well as their current roster, will be on display as roster spots will be fought for.
After an offseason that saw P.K. Subban leave for New Jersey and Matt Duchene come in to anchor the second line, the expectations are high and there are a lot of questions to be answered heading into tonight’s games against the Panthers.
One of those questions is: How will Dante Fabbro do as P.K. Subban’s replacement in the Predators top four?
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From what we saw last season, albeit on small sample size, he looked like a very good NHL defenseman, but we will see how he does this season with a larger role.
He will be on display tonight, as he will likely have to face the Florida Panthers top players in this doubleheader, likely getting a heavy amount of minutes to get him ready for the increased workload he will be seeing this season.
Also on display will be Eeli Tolvanen, who is looking to factor himself into the Nashville Predators bottom six, in which there is a multitude of competitors for those six spots.
He put on an amazing display in the prospect scrimmages last week, so if he keeps up his production in the preseason, he will have to make David Poile and Peter Laviolette make a very tough decision come October.
Kyle Turris and Nick Bonino will also need to prove themselves this preseason, as they could end up on the trade block with the amount of forwards the Nashville Predators have on their roster.
Look out for production for those two tonight, as they will likely need to prove themselves heading into this season.
We will also likely get a good look at either Juuse Saros or Connor Ingram, who will likely be the Predators goaltending tandem of the future after Pekka Rinne decides to hang up the skates in the next few years.
The Florida Panthers will also have some storylines of their own heading into this game, as Owen Tippett looks to secure himself a spot on their roster to begin this season.
Samuel Montembeault will also be looking to continue his solid play from last season, as he looks to take the Panthers backup goaltending position.
The Nashville Predators will also need to look out for the Panthers deadly offensive weapons in Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, which will be a big test to start the preseason.
The preseason is time for young players to compete for spots, veterans to continue to prove themselves, and for teams to gear up for the upcoming season, so tonight’s doubleheader should be a fun one.