Nashville Predators: Early Season Standouts and Surprises

Nashville Predators right wing Mathieu Olivier (25) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy (5) exchange shoves after the whistle during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nashville Predators right wing Mathieu Olivier (25) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy (5) exchange shoves after the whistle during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Roman Josi

This list isn’t going to be all positive, and what really stands out early in the season is Roman Josi doesn’t look like himself.

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Josi might need to get back to his old playing style of being more aggressive on the offensive rush and living with the consequences. I know we don’t like to see that sometimes because it can compromise the forwards, but the Predators need a jolt of offensive energy from somewhere.

It just seems like Josi has been somewhat held back from doing the things he’s so elite at doing. Generating offensive rushes all on his own and making defenders look silly who try to stop him.

Josi does have that one sweet game-winner in overtime to beat the Chicago Blackhawks. Other than that, his presence and impact have been very minimal by his standards. Something needs to change quickly,

Unleash the Captain. He has to unfortunately do more of the heavy lifting offensively until some of these top forwards start producing.