Nashville Predators: Key Players Poised for Breakout Seasons in 2021
By Chad Minton
The newcomer, Luke Kunin
There isn’t a lot of hype surrounding the signing of Luke Kunin from the Minnesota Wild over the offseason, and that’s understandable. However, he’s going to be an integral piece of the lineup.
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Kunin is entering the prime of his career as he’s about to turn 23-years-old. This is why Predators GM David Poile went after Kunin. To hopefully get a young up-and-coming player who can be a new weapon for the Predators.
This pickup is growing on me. I have my reservations, which aren’t fair to Kunin, due to the previous addition from the Minnesota Wild with Mikael Granlund. Obviously these two have nothing to do with each other, and I actually think Kunin will meet the modest expectations early on.
Assuming there’s at least 60-plus games next season and Kunin avoids injury, he’s going to have one of his most offensively productive seasons of his career. Especially if he plays most of his time alongside Matt Duchene on the second line.
Kunin played in 63 games last season and registered around half a point per game. If he can up that efficiency to around a 40-plus point scorer then I will consider that a big success. Can those 40 points come in the way of 20-plus goals? That will be interesting to see.