Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes: Underrated X-Factors

: Dante Fabbro #57 of the Nashville Predators (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
: Dante Fabbro #57 of the Nashville Predators (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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Nashville Predators: Dante Fabbro

All of the focus is usually on Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis at the top of the Nashville defense, and rightfully so. But there’s a decent amount of pressure on the second defensive pairing to up their game.

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The young Dante Fabbro is at the forefront of this. He’s had to grow up fast, and his gradual progress has been encouraging. But there’s much more progress to make offensively before I can feel totally confident in him alongside veteran Mattias Ekholm.

Fabbro is a big x-factor in this series against the Coyotes to up his offensive impact, while also continuing to be smart defensively. This is a good matchup for him against Arizona.

If the top two defensive pairings have a strong series against Arizona, I don’t see this going past four games. The Predators will score enough goals to hold the Coyotes to below three goals and win this one fairly easily.

However, for this prediction to come true, Fabbro has to avoid mistakes that players of his age typically produce under playoff pressure. It will be interesting to watch unfold.