Nashville Predators: Players Who Need to Elevate After Two Early Losses

With the season still very much in its infancy, the Nashville Predators are looking for that elusive first win of 2021-22, while still trying to solve their depth issues and build crucial line chemistry.

In the first two games, losses against the Seattle Kraken and Carolina Hurricanes, the Predators have committed some costly defensive mistakes that left them just short of at least getting it to overtime and a point in the standings.

Eight different Predators have registered at least one point through the first two games, but no one has more than three points (Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund each with three points). I’m looking for more players to get involved in the offense tonight against LA Kings.

Before I get into this list of players who need to elevate their individual games to a higher level, I want to make it clear that this doesn’t mean all of these player are necessarily playing horrible through just two games. It’s more about knowing they have room to improve and help the Predators get out of this early season slump.

Time to string together a few wins in a row and not dig a deep hole in the standings in what’s a difficult October schedule.

1. Matt Duchene

Anytime you’re talking about a player on the Nashville Predators who needs to step up, Matt Duchene is always the one who seems to come up first. This is obviously justified as Duchene hasn’t lived up to his $8M per year contract as the highest-paid player on the team along with Ryan Johansen.

I’ve defended Duchene for a long time as getting a lot of unfair criticism, and also tried to point to the fact that he does a lot of other things very well that doesn’t always show up as goals and assists. But the well is running dry on that front for me.

Duchene has opened the season with zero points through two games, and once again appears snake bitten. He’s got seven shots on goal and is putting in just under 20 minutes of ice time per game. So he’s out there for plenty of playing time, but still can’t make an impact offensively on the top line.

This can’t continue for a long stretch to open the season or Head Coach John Hynes will be forced to rethink his decision of putting Duchene on the top line with Forsberg and Johansen. A line combination that I agreed with going in, and still not ready to give up on it. But time is running out.

2. Dante Fabbro

Here’s another example, although on a smaller scale, of a player I’ve defended against the critics and still think he can reach his full potential in a Nashville Predators uniform and that’s Dante Fabbro.

Fabbro had a rough season-opener against the Seattle Kraken as he was the focal point of the first goal scored by Seattle where he inadvertently screened his own goaltender:

It’s a tough break for Fabbro as he was trying to make an aggressive play skating from the other side of the zone, but ultimately he made Saros’ chances of making what would normally be a routine save that much more difficult, and ended in a goal.

Fabbro he’s still so young in his own right at age 23, and yet we often don’t include him in this youth movement because he’s been around for a while on the NHL level, and getting a lot of playing time with Mattias Ekholm on the same pairing.

The Predators really need a strong bounce-back game, and stretch of games, from Fabbro as he continues to get work on that troubled third defensive pairing. He needs to be an leader in that role, and hopefully the Predators can figure out who can line up next to him. That’s a whole other set of issues.

Much like Duchene, the book isn’t written on Fabbro yet and I’m not ready to fully give up on him. It is vital that he improves as the season progresses, and it has to happen now. He can solve some of these depth issues for the Predators.

3. Nick Cousins

I don’t know how much longer we can justify keeping Nick Cousins in the starting lineup, and on the third line no less, if he’s not going to make a bigger impact offensively. Yes, I know he’s never been an offensive player, but he’s got to give them something more than just being a hard-nosed physical player.

Cousins brings that veteran leadership that’s important for such a young, inexperienced team like the Nashville Predators are. I understand in that regard why he’s in the starting lineup right now, but he needs to be moved out for more offensive skill if he doesn’t improve that aspect of his game.

To no logical sense that I can wrap my head around, Cousins is getting work on the second power play unit instead of Tanner Jeannot, Yakov Trenin or even Rocco Grimaldi. I just like their offensive scoring ability more than that of Cousins

According to DailyFaceoff, Cousins might be moving down to the fourth line tonight against the Kings to play with Tommy Novak, who’s making his NHL debut. That’s probably a better spot for Cousins, but either way, we need more out of him going forward.