Nashville Predators: Top Standouts from the Scrimmages

Two scrimmages is all the Nashville Predators get to find out if they’re in game shape for the start of the regular season on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

My appetite for Nashville Predators hockey is growing by the hour, and the two intrasquad scrimmages helped as we get ready for Thursday’s season-opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

These scrimmages gave Head Coach John Hynes, who is heading into his first full season in Nashville, a chance to sort out this competitive roster.

It’s really hard to gauge where the Predators stand when they’re playing against each other. You can’t draw too many vast conclusions from these scrimmages, but there are things to highlight.

Some key players who were unable to suit up in the scrimmages were Philip Tomasino and Mikael Granlund. They should both be ready to go on Thursday.

There were some players who really stood out in the scrimmages and helped their cause for either making the roster, or confirming that they’re still a top player on the team.

Ryan Johansen

There wasn’t an official stat keeper for the scrimmages, but Ryan Johansen was one of those players doing pretty much everything well. His skating was crisp and his passing was on point.

Johannsen badly needs to have a bounce-back year for the Predators. He can’t have another down season in terms of assists and being that critical leader on the top line.

At least against his teammates over the last two scrimmages, Johansen looked the part. He scored a beautiful breakaway goal in the last scrimmage, and the JoFA line was highly productive all the way through.

Johansen also got some power play work in, albeit the one-minute power play variety used just for these scrimmages. It’s kind of hard to get things going in just one minute.

These are encouraging signs from Johansen as he looks to return to top-center form once again with his usual linemates of Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg.

Mathieu Olivier

Prospects had to come out battling in these two scrimmages as they try to make their case for a spot on the taxi squad or in the starting lineup. The taxi squad is a likely destination for some of them.

Mathieu Olivier isn’t at the forefront on my radar when it comes to prospects, but he did show me something in the scrimmages. He was aggressive, skated well and tallied a couple goals.

It’s hard to stand out for some of these prospects because everyone is naturally focused on the top players and how they’re looking. But Olivier made the most out of his time and now the coaches have to look strongly at him as a taxi squad candidate.

In the end I think there’s too much roster competition for Olivier to make the cut, but it doesn’t mean we won’t see him later down the road. He’s had a very productive training camp.

Olivier has 100 games of experience with the Milwaukee Admirals and tallied 19 points last season. With the Admirals season cancelled, it will be interesting to see where he ends up playing this season Possibly in Nashville on the taxi squad after this showing.

Nick Cousins

After watching the final scrimmage, there’s no newcomer on the Predators roster that’s bringing more excitement to the fans than Nick Cousins.

Cousins had two goals in the final scrimmage, including one in the slot area that was a perfectly placed shot to beat Pekka Rinne.

When looking over the Predators lineup and figuring out how to assemble each line, Cousins figures to be a huge part of either the third or fourth line.

Cousins has made a strong case to be placed on the third line and be the player that can hopefully replace some of the production that was lost with Craig Smith and Nick Bonino.

What I saw from Cousins over the two scrimmages was intensity on both ends of the ice and just skating hard to make plays. The Predators aren’t necessarily as talent rich as they’ve been in the past, but they have hard-working players like Cousins that can offset that.

Luke Kunin

Despite missing the first part of training camp due to contract negotiations, Luke Kunin made the most of his time in the scrimmages. He tallied goals in each game, and now the Predators have to find a place for him.

You can make arguments for Kunin to be anywhere from the fourth line to the second line, depending on how you fill out the taxi squad.

Kunin is a versatile player that does a little bit of everything. The hope is he’s entering the prime of his career and the Predators are getting him at just the right time.

Here’s what Kunin had to say about the intensity level in the scrimmages and playing with Matt Duchene, per Brooks Bratten:

“The pace of play was really good tonight from both teams. And as far as playing with [my linemates]: two great players. It was fun to play with them, and I thought we got better as the game went on, created more chances, and hopefully we can just keep building trust”

Consider it a very successful training camp for Kunin despite missing the first part of it. Putting him on the second line with Duchene isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

Other things that stood out

How Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros looked was at the forefront. Both gave up their fair share of goals, but Saros stood out for the wrong reason in the first scrimmage due to an onslaught from players like Viktor Arvidsson, Ryan Johansen and Matheiu Olivier.

Saros was tested early and often in the first scrimmage and let a few soft ones get by, while Rinne wasn’t tested nearly as much on the other side.

In the second scrimmages, roles reversed a bit. Rinne saw more action and had to make a lot more difficult saves. He rose to the challenge on some of them, but his squad came out on the losing end to a score of 5-2.

Saros should remain the starter for the season-opener against the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Expect Rinne to get plenty of starts as well in the condensed schedule.

We didn’t get to see a whole lot from Connor Ingram or Kasimir Kaskisuo in net, which kind of surprised me. It was mainly Saros and Rinne’s show.

The prospects had a fairly modest two-game scrimmage. Aside from Olivier scoring twice, there’s wasn’t a ton that jumped out at you to make a case for someone to jump up the depth chart.

However, Eeli Tolvanen does look like he has a more polished game now and is ready for NHL minutes on a consistent basis. He scored in the final scrimmage.

There’s two more practices left and then it’s the real deal. It’s going to feel like playoff hockey right out of the gate with all games against division opponents.