Nashville Predators Mid-Season Team Report Card: Slightly Improved

Offense: C- (Up from a D+)

The Offense is still somewhat…offensive. Sure, they raised their grade, but do you want to know the difference between a C- and a D+ on the 4.0 scale? You probably don’t care, but it’s .5 (the more you knowwww). If not for a stellar Filbruary that saw Filip Forsberg average a point per game, or surprise efforts from Calle Jarnkrok and the ever-rising stock (“STONK”?) of Mattias Ekholm, as well as the advent of youthful talent like Eeli Tolvanen (more on him in a bit), I’m not sure there would be much worth talking about here.

In many facets of the game, you can put some of the downturn for the Nashville Predators on the “youth” of the team, but it’s really not their fault the offense is about as explosive as a wet blanket covered in fire extinguisher fluid. The system just…isn’t flashy. Old habits still loom (like taking low-percentage shots, no second chance opportunities, etc.), but really you can see exactly what this phase of the game is based on the transitions to the offensive zone.

The setup to this ever-important component of the game is…really bad. Watching the team go through the neutral zone is like holding your breath and wondering if anyone noticed it was you that farted in the crowded elevator. When the offense DOES get through the neutral zone, the shot selection isn’t the best – it HAS improved, albeit ever so slightly, but there has to be a better way of playing offensive hockey that isn’t so…offensive.

Defense: C (Up from a C-)

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The Nashville Predators have gotten bitten by the injury bug between the quarterly report card and this midterm report card. On paper, it looks like the forward group has been impacted the most, but when you have fewer defensemen on a roster and in the lineup, their absence can be incredibly noticeable.

At some point, all of the top 6 defensemen have had to miss time due to injury, or in Dante Fabbro’s case, suspension. Missing the combination of your top blueliners in Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis at the same time is not a recipe for success. While Mattias Ekholm bounced back from his injury in big ways, he’s had to do so as the squad’s elder. This has led to opportunities for the young guys, and while they’ve actually improved since the quarterly report card (by .25), they still struggle in areas that aren’t to blame just because of the rookies logging some ice time.

There are many times where the defense can be caught out of position, can make a poor transition, or take some boneheaded penalties that serve no purpose to the team’s cause. At the same time, they’re less prone to flooding and more prone to leaking when it comes to allowing goals.

That Ekholm guy has come back like a man on fire and is generating offense from the blue line in a big way (his time on the IR was apparently because he was having a rocket launcher attached to his stick hand). Seeing young guys like Alexandre Carrier and Jeremy Davies should give fans hope; they’ve shown the potential to be consistent lineup contributors down the road.

Lastly, the heartbeat of this team, not just defensively but emotionally, remains Pekka Rinne – if the team is going to win games, it’s because he’s still leaving every bit of heart, blood, sweat, and tears out on the ice. Juuse Saros has been injured, but this still very much looks like Rinne’s job until Saros can actually take it, and I’m not so sure he can.

Special Teams: C (Up from an F)

Special teams have, speaking in the context of the last decade worth of seasons, not been the Nashville Predators’ strong aspect of their game. However, the power play has taken on a drastic change in big part thanks to the “Chosen One,” Eeli Tolvanen. Not only has Tolvanen (or “Goalvanen”) led the team in power-play goals (4 in 20 games played), but he also is second on the team in shooting percentage, just behind his fellow mustachioed comrade Filip Forsberg (of #Stacheville). Tolvanen’s infusion of offense into a formerly lackluster power play has made the team more dangerous in that phase of the game.

On the flip side, there’s the elephant in the room: the penalty kill. Some writers reasonably disagreed with this grade (I give these grades based on the average from ALL Predlines staff, and there are several of us). Those writers are not wrong: if the Predators don’t deserve this C, it’s because they have the absolute worst penalty kill in the NHL (31 out of 31 with a 68% PK). That is absolutely atrocious.

Do I agree with this grade? Not really. I think we’re fully behind the fact that Tolvanen makes our power play fun to watch again, and if you go back and watch clips of his shot release, you’ll see why we grade this aspect of the game with rose-colored glasses (his shot is literally a work of art, poetry in motion). At the same time, it’s been a LONG time (like, since the 2011-2012 season) since the Nashville Predators ranked in the top 50% of the league on the power play (ok, they’re 18 out of 31, so literally smack dab in the middle, but still better than the last ten years). Let’s enjoy the run while it lasts.

Coaching: D- (Down from a D)

Honestly, I’m surprised this grade for the Nashville Predators isn’t lower. I think our writers have reasonably given John Hynes a little slack with all the injuries and rookies being put into the lineup. At the same time, let’s not act like the team, when healthy, was a bunch of world-beaters poised for a great run. The team possesses some talent, and history has shown as much (statistically), but this system does NOT seem to be getting the best from the team, and that’s on the coach(es).

The most frustrating aspect of the coaching’s effect on the game has been the issues that should be fixed by it. The offensive approach is predictable and unimaginative. The defense commits the same mistakes that should be worked on and corrected by this point in the season. The special teams may have marginally improved on the power play, but that’s really more due to the personnel than the system, and we don’t need to remind you how bad (literally the worst) the penalty kill is, but here we are.

On top of all the issues we can clearly see on the ice, there are the questionable lineup decisions that, from a common-sense standpoint, make no sense. Rocco Grimaldi is usually first to be scratched, though he provides an offensive spark the team often lacks. Lines are shuffled so often that I’ve heard reports Smoothie King plans to release a new line of John Hynes blenders (you heard it here first). In a season as short as this one will be, you have to think consistency is key. John Hynes and Co. seem to be going for the opposite of consistency, and it’s resulted in a team without an identity, somewhat a rudderless ship.

Time will tell if the aforementioned issues ultimately lead to a short tenure for the helmsmen, but stay tuned for something on that later this week (that’s what we in the biz call a “tease”).

Nashville Predators Management: D- (Up from an F)

Chalk this improvement on the Nashville Predator’s report card up to the “youth movement” we’re finally seeing in full force – it only took a quarter of the season, condescension and patronizing from management, and a ton of injuries for us to see it finally. As much as people will question David Poile and Co., and possibly rightfully so (i.e., John Hynes quick hire), the team’s prospect pool has shown up and been worthy of NHL ice time.

Prior to the 2020 draft, many thought the cupboard was quite empty when it came to prospects, but it turns out the kids are alright. The team has started up to 8 rookies in the lineup at a given time, and in games where they could have easily folded, they competed and fought hard (unfortunately, sometimes too late in the game).

Players like Eeli Tolvanen, Yakov Trenin, Mathieu Olivier, Jeremy Davies, Alexandre Carrier, and even lesser-known names like Michale McCarron, Rem Pitlick, Ben Harpur, and Frederic Allard have shown flashes of what you hope you’d see in a franchise’s future. With the exception of Tolvanen and maybe Trenin, the rookies may need more time to develop (and put on some additional muscle/hit that growth spurt), but they show a LOT of promise.

The big question looms for what GMDP does with the trade deadline right around the corner. Rumors are swirling around players like Ekholm, snake-bitten Viktor Arvidsson, and spark-plug-on-a-short-contract Mikael Granlund, just to name a few. There are also questions about who is leading this team on the ice (coaching) and if they will continue to do so. How Poile navigates the next few weeks will be very telling of whether or not the grace he has been given will last.