Six Things That Stand Out from 2021-22 Nashville Predators Schedule

In what has been a hectic couple of weeks for the Nashville Predators with roster changes, the 2021-22 NHL schedule has now been released, and how nice is it to see an normal 82-game schedule again.

After getting through the 56-game schedule that only included divisional matchups, it’s going to be fun to see old rivalries renewed with matchups against the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins and other teams we collectively can’t stand as Predators fans.

I’ll even throw the Winnipeg Jets in there as I still haven’t gotten over the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs and having our Presidents Trophy season wasted with a second round loss to them.

The 2021-22 NHL regular season begins on October 12 with a pretty entertaining doubleheader of Penguins at Lightning, and Kraken at the Golden Knights. No shortage of storylines or star players in those to matchups.

As for the Predators, we’ll have to wait until two days later to see them take the ice for the first time with what will be a much different looking roster that has already lost four core players in Pekka Rinne (retirement) Calle Jarnkrok (expansion draft), Ryan Ellis (trade) and Viktor Arvidsson (trade).

Here are the highlights of the 2021-22 Nashville Predators schedule.

Nashville Predators open up season at home vs. Seattle Kraken

Well, you could’ve have really scripted this out any more dramatic than by welcoming the expansion team Seattle Kraken in to Bridgestone Arena to bring in the new era of Predators hockey.

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We’ll already have seen the Kraken take the ice on opening night against the Vegas Golden Knights, and we’ll be welcoming back Calle Jarnkrok as he was not protected and lost in the expansion draft.

If that’s not enough drama to get your intrigued than I don’t know what will. I know fans are pretty upset with the direction of the team right now, but I still expect Bridgestone Arena to be back at full capacity for this game and for it to live back up to its reputation of being one of the toughest arenas to play in for opposing teams.

The Kraken roster has some solid pieces to it, but they don’t scream Stanley Cup contender, either. It will be a lot of fun opening the Predators season against them.

Four-straight games at home to start

The Nashville Predators will get the opportunity to get nice and comfortable at home to open the season with four-straight games. We need the fans back at full force and rowdier than ever to help get the team off to a strong start.

The opponents aren’t cakewalks by any means, however. After opening against the Kraken, the Predators will then host the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that we got to know plenty well enough last season thanks to division realignment and the first round playoff series.

Many people, including myself, would love to be in a division fulltime with the Hurricanes. It could become a big time rivalry thanks to the geographical closeness between the two teams, and how intense the playoff series got.

After that the Predators will welcome another Predators alum that was just traded and that’s Viktor Arvidsson and the LA Kings. I expect the Kings to be a much-improved team, and I’m sure Arvidsson will have some new energy playing with his new club.

Get those tribute videos fired up, because we’ll be presenting two of them rather quickly.

Finally, the homestand will wrap up with a matchup with the New York Rangers, another team that figures to be improved even more. Not an easy four-game slate to start with.

Buckle up for November because it might get bumpy

Breaking down the schedule by each month and November really sticks out as one that can make-or-break the entire Predators season. It’s going to really test just how good or bad this team is.

First off, the Predators will play nine of their first ten games on the road in November. Those road games will include matchups with Dallas, St. Louis, Edmonton, Toronto and Colorado.

There’s always those stretches in an NHL season, especially the 82-game season, where you can hit a rough patch than you can never really recover from. Even last season the Predators nearly buried themselves too deep, but somehow defied the odds by sneaking into the playoffs.

A long losing streak can easily end up happening in this stretch just by looking at the opponents and where they’re currently projected to be.

Of course a lot of roster changes will happen between now and then, but boy does that not look like a fun month if the Predators are going to be as mediocre as many predict them to be.

Bringing in the New Year at home

Home games against the Chicago Blackhawks always bring out an extra intensity from the fans. This will be the first home meeting for the Predators against the Blackhawks of 2021-22 and one of four matchups with them overall.

I’ll be interested to see if this game ends up being a primetime game on ESPN or TNT as it will be the same day as the Winter Classic. Since it’s a holiday from work for most, I would expect the NHL to take advantage of that with some nationally televised primetime games on this day, and the Blackhawks and Predators always seem to get a couple national games against each other.

The Predators played a major role on why the Blackhawks missed the playoffs in the shortened season last year by beating them seven of eight times. Let’s keep that domination going, but something tells me this will be a much more competitive series in 2021-22.

Seven back-to-backs on the road

One thing that really stands out on the schedule is the road back-to-backs. There’s seven of them, and this could end up being a good thing or bad thing. Sometimes it’s good for teams to get away from the noise at home and focus more on the road.

The Predators’ first two road games of the season will be back-to-back affairs against Winnipeg and Minnesota. Two difficult opponents with loud home crowds.

Other road back-to-backs will be Calgary/Edmonton, Dallas/St. Louis, and Colorado/Arizona to close out the 2021-22 regular season. If they end up being another fringe playoff team, then it might two take gutsy road wins to do it.

Despite the expectations being rather grim for this Predators team, I’m still incredibly excited to see an 82-game schedule again and new opponents that we didn’t see last year.

Free agency is going to change the outlook of how good or bad this team could end up being, but as of now just be excited to see 82 games again and to see a youthful roster. New stars can be born.