Nashville Predators: What a Fully Healthy Lineup Should Look Like

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We don’t need anymore reminders of how fun the past three weeks have been for the Nashville Predators. They have done what was once the unthinkable and put themselves squarely into the playoff race after a horrific start to the season.

That being said, the team has put themselves into a precarious situation in regards to their personnel.

Many key players have been absent with injuries throughout the hot streak; most notably Filip Forsberg, Ryan Ellis, Matt Duchene, and now, Alexandre Carrier.

The last thing the Predators want to do right now is disrupt the chemistry they have had over the past few weeks, but at the same time, they cannot justify keeping four of their most critical players out of the lineup when they eventually return to full health.

This is a good predicament to have, but John Hynes will have to make some critical decisions when his players recover, and the Predlines crew has put together a collective lineup for when, and if, that happens.

Nashville Predators center Ryan Johansen (92) and left wing Filip Forsberg (9) Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

The top six

First line: Filip Forsberg — Ryan Johansen — Eeli Tolvanen

Second line: Calle Jarnkrok — Matt Duchene — Viktor Arvidsson

The first line was a no-brainer. Forsberg and Tolvanen have easily been the Predators’ most dangerous duo this season, and Johansen’s ability to distribute the puck and be a defensive presence at times makes him a good fit down the middle.

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There was some disagreement on what the second line should look like, but the slight majority was in favor of trading Mikael Granlund and rolling with the combination above.

A recent article from Chad Minton broke down why the Predators should try to trade Granlund, and I am in favor of this as well.

Ultimately, he just doesn’t have a future on this team beyond this season, and it would be much more worthwhile to get something in return for him and make room for the youth on the roster.

As far as the line combinations go, Jarnkrok has been playing lights out the past few weeks and definitely deserves a spot in the top six. Arvidsson has also looked good since being temporarily put on the top line with Johansen and Tolvanen, and a player of his skill is best utilized in a top six role as it is.

Duchene was a point of slight controversy among the Predlines.com crew, and it makes sense given his past and that the team has played its best hockey in two seasons without him. Even then, the Predators would be putting themselves in a dire situation if they were to keep him out of the top six, let alone bench him.

By doing this, they would be telling all of us that they view him as a huge cancer, and it would destroy any and all trade value and clout that he had left in hockey circles.

Not that this would be breaking news to many across the NHL, but from a business perspective, the Predators would be much smarter to try and get the best out of him as opposed to flat out giving up on him.

Nashville Predators center Nick Cousins (21) and Nashville Predators left wing Erik Haula (56) celebrate after a hat trick goal by Nashville Predators right wing Rocco Grimaldi (23) Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

The bottom six

Third line: Rocco Grimaldi — Luke Kunin — Nick Cousins

Fourth line: Yakov Trenin — Colton Sissons — Mathieu Olivier

The third line was also another point of slight disagreement among the writers, but everybody agreed that Grimaldi and Kunin should be there.

It goes without saying how hard Grimaldi works when he is on the ice, and the same can be said for Kunin, who has been impactful in multiple ways since his return from injury.

In a perfect world, the Predators should keep Kunin with Jarnkrok since they have played well together recently, but he and Grimaldi would complement each other well with how tenacious they both are.

The last spot on this line was where the controversy was, but the majority leaned to keeping Cousins and trading Erik Haula.

It makes sense to trade Haula because Cousins has played in that same spot for several weeks now, and the Predators need to make sure they get something in exchange for Haula now, since his contract expires at the end of this year.

The team also is likely to maximize their return if they trade Haula as opposed to Cousins, given the former’s defensive prowess.

Rounding out the forwards core is the “herd” line of Trenin, Sissons, and Olivier, and I do not think much explanation is needed on that front. Just look at this article I wrote about the youth movement, which explains why they are such a valuable part of this team.

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

The defense

Top pairing: Roman Josi — Ryan Ellis

Second pairing: Mattias Ekholm — Dante Fabbro

Third pairing: Alexandre Carrier — Jeremy Davies

The Predlines crew was near unanimous in wanting Josi and Ellis to be the first pairing on defense.

Josi and Ellis have had near seamless chemistry since the start of last year, and it would make sense to keep one of the best defensive duos in the league intact when Ellis returns from his injury.

As far of the rest of the defense goes, the writers were all over the place in terms of projections.

Not all of us agree on the best course of action for Ekholm, who is becoming increasingly less likely to be traded by the day, but the ultimate consensus was that the Predators to keep him and reunite him with Fabbro.

Fabbro has only continued to improve his game since assuming a full-time role last year, and Ekholm is playing arguably the best hockey of his career this year. They have a chance to be a much more lethal, two-way pair if put back together again, so it would make sense to let them re-gain their chemistry.

This would leave the recently injured Carrier on the third pairing, who has not only met expectations, but exceeded them at both ends of the ice since getting is first real chance at the NHL level.

Some of the writers wanted to include one of Matt Benning and Ben Harpur in this lineup, but most wanted to give the final spot to Jeremy Davies, and I agree with it.

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It’s just that crucial that the youth continues to get as much ice time as possible, and with how good Davies has looked in the small amount of time he has been on the ice, he has earned the opportunity to stay.

This is our consensus healthy lineup for the Predators assuming they can enter this home stretch of the regular season pushing for that final playoff spot.

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