Nashville Predators: 3 Things That Have Stood Out from Training Camp

Training camp is one week in for the Nashville Predators, and there’s less than two weeks left before the qualifying round starts against the Arizona Coyotes.

The intensity has been high for the Nashville Predators so far in training camp, and Head Coach John Hynes is getting the players into game-like situations to get back into hockey shape.

Playoff hockey is always hard to predict, which is what makes it so fun to watch. But this season, more so than ever, it’s going to be unpredictable. There’s no way to know just how prepared the Predators are until they actually get on the ice and the puck is dropped officially.

However, you can’t help but be a little excited and optimistic about what’s happened in training camp so far. All of the core players have been there and look healthy and refreshed, and players also look hungry to live up to preseason expectations that weren’t exactly met in the regular season.

A scrimmage has already happened within the team, and Roman Josi stole the show there with this amazing goal, courtesy of Shaun Smith of On the Forecheck:

With that glorious goal that reminds us all just how spectacular Josi is, let’s get to what has really stood out so far in this unprecedented postseason training camp.

No clear answer between the pipes

Maybe you can call this a good problem to have as the Predators have two highly capable goaltenders and don’t know which one to start for Game 1.

Heading into training camp it was clear that there would be some friendly competition between Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros to get the starting role.

One week of training camp hasn’t settled anything yet other than the bond between these two teammates remains incredibly strong and they can hopefully both help the team be successful:

This probably surprises some fans because Saros was playing so well before the pause. He was quite literally carrying the team over the last month and propelled them up the division standings to just six points behind Dallas for third place.

But Rinne is the battle-tested veteran who has had playoff success, along with some playoff blunders as well. This is a such a tough decision to make, and I don’t envy Hynes or anyone else who has a say in making this decision.

There’s also the thought of Games 2 and 3 of the qualifying round being back-to-backs. Which means there’s a chance that Rinne and Saros both get a start in those games. That still doesn’t answer the all important question of who to start for Game 1.

I’ve gone back and forth on this dilemma, but I’ve settled on Rinne as the starter for Game 1. It’ll be more surprising if Saros gets the start over Rinne than vice versa.

Treating it like a new season

Not all teams are probably viewing it this way. The teams that were cruising through their schedules and sitting high atop the standings might have a different viewpoint of this restart as compared to a team like the Predators.

The truth is the Predators were in playoff mode since January. They were hanging on by a thread, and we’ll never know for sure if the Predators would’ve even made the playoffs if they played the 13 games they had remaining.

This is why they have to treat this situation like a fresh start and take advantage of the unique opportunity to push reset and come out blazing like they did in October.

I was very interested leading up to training camp to see what the leaders of this team would say in regards to returning to ice and preparing for a playoff run. They’re appearing to take this new opportunity as a jolt of new energy that was sorely lacking in November and December, which put them behind the 8-ball for a while.

You can’t look past the value of this team’s veteran experience and leadership. These guys are battle-tested and realize the clock is ticking on keeping this core group together for too many more seasons. This is why I think they’ve come out so focused and keeping the intensity high in training camp.

It’s hard to know exactly how effective and successful this training camp is until they actually play a game, but there’s certainly no red flags sticking out so far. If anything, there’s restored hope that hasn’t been strongly felt since the early goings of the regular season.