Nashville Predators: Remainder of December Will Reveal Who They Really Are

Patience has been hard to come by with the Nashville Predators this season. They’ve definitely not performed anywhere close to preseason expectations.

I’ve been pretty critical for a while now about how badly the Nashville Predators have been trending. Since the early parts of November I’ve been worried about how this team lacks consistency.

Then the Predators took points in seven of eight games, including a two-day sweep of the St.Louis Blues. It helped restore some confidence, but not completely. Now I’m in the same mindset as I was before they swept the Blues and went on a nice eight-game run.

Tonight the Predators start a four-game road trip up in the Northeast, and the first matchup comes against a New York Rangers team that’s quietly playing very solid hockey. Then the Predators take on an even stronger New York Islanders team tomorrow night. An extremely difficult back-to-back on the road.

The rest of this month is my final measuring stick for this team. If they continue to come up short, I’ll be thinking possible coaching changes and what they can do in free agency. I won’t be think playoffs anymore. This upcoming stretch is a massive fork in the road for this season.

December will be the true measuring stick

The Predators season up to this point is really a tale of two opposite months. They looked like a true Sanley Cup contender after October. They went 7-3-2 and the offense was clicking on cylinders.

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Pekka Rinne also looked unbreakable as he won in eight of his first ten starts and didn’t take a regulation loss during that span. Since then Rinne has fallen off majorly and hasn’t really recovered. However, it’s not all been on him as the defensive effort has been shaky at best in many of these games.

Then November happened when the Predators regressed in a big way and rode a six-game losing streak in the process. During that time the rest of the division, even the Minnesota Wild, made up ground and passed them up.

After all of this, the Predators sit just one point from being in last place in the division. They’re also seven points behind the final wildcard spot. Not an insurmountable deficit, but they need a lengthy winning streak badly.

This is why December will probe a lot to me, one way or the other. If they can reel off some consecutive wins and get back into the thick of the wildcard picture, I’ll feel good going into January. That’s where I’m at currently, which is basically do-or-die time.

What’s it going to take?

It’s pretty clear that goaltending and defensive lapses have been the biggest issue. Two areas that historically the Predators have always been reliable in. These two areas of struggle go hand-in-hand. Goaltenders have to start making more critical saves, but the defensive effort has to tighten up as well.

Only seven teams give up more goals per game than the Predators do. They give up 3.19 goals per game, which is offsetting their top-ten offense. Laviolette has to start making defensive adjustments and changing things up. Figure out why the goaltenders are getting hung out to dry, and why the penalty kill has failed to show much improvement.

The Predators also desperately need Viktor Arvidsson back in the lineup. Once he returns, hopefully Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene will reunite on the second line, and Arvidsson will be on the top line with Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Johansen.

Arvidsson is getting closer to returning and seems right on track to be back hopefully before December is over. He participated in the morning skate with the team this morning, per Brooks Bratten:

Seven of the next eight games are against Eastern Conference teams. These games are always tough to predict because it’s two teams who don’t regularly play each other. Perhaps the Predators can catch some teams off-guard and take advantage of that.

The Predators also don’t play another division opponent until the Winter Classic game on New Year’s Day against the Dallas Stars. That will make it a little tougher to make up a lot of ground this month.

I’m at the point where the Predators basically need to win three out of every four to get back in the playoff race. Another lengthy losing streak will be devastating. Their playoff odds are currently at around 50 percent as of now based on most models.

Fittingly enough, going into the huge Winter Class game we’ll know for sure if this team is going to salvage the season or if it’s going to shockingly miss the playoffs. If that’s the case, we’ll be entering the coaching market and looking for just the franchise’s third every head coach.

December is already halfway over, but the Predators have eight games left to restore my hope that they can sneak into the playoffs. If they get in, anything can happen after that. Just ask the 2016-17 team.