Nashville Predators Must Adapt With Several Players on COVID List
The news that the Nashville Predators feared but expected has come out today.
Six players, including Mikael Granlund and Philip Tomasino, and six staff members, including head coach John Hynes, are now in COVID protocol, per the Predators’ official website.
Despite the outbreak within the organization, the plan right now remains to play against the Colorado Avalanche at home on Thursday night, as reported by TSN’s Frank Seravalli.
As reported yesterday, #preds add six players and six staff - including four coaches - to the Covid-19 protocol list.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) December 15, 2021
Word is the #preds are making the necessary recalls from Milwaukee, including coaches, in preparation to face #Avs on Thursday night.
Nashville Predators must adjust despite key losses
The Predators have nothing short of a tall task ahead of them on Thursday night, if they actually end up playing, as their decimated roster will have to go up against one of the stronger teams in the league, and the odds are stacked against them having won five-straight contests.
The loss of Granlund is an especially big blow to their offense, as the main puck distributor on their top line will be missing.
The Predators will have to make some key call-ups from the Milwaukee Admirals, but luckily, it is not the worst case scenario for them.
Matt Duchene is likely to return after being sidelined for the last two games with an upper-body injury, and if he does in fact come back, they will only be down three usual forwards.
Rocco Grimaldi, Cody Glass, and Mathieu Olivier are the ones likely to suit up in place the missing forwards, and all of them have played meaningful minutes at the NHL level in the past. In addition, the entirety of the starting defense is available at this moment, in addition to both goaltenders.
By no means is this ideal, but it is far from the end of the world. The goals will not be easy to come by against the Avalanche, but the Predators will still be capable of playing to their identity, which is that of a physical team that can keep pucks out of their own net.
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Of course, we hope that the game is able to be played, but with the news we have right now, they will be able to make do with what they have at their disposal.
Again, it’s a fluid situation and the game might end up ultimately getting postponed, while there’s also a scheduled game on the road at the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.