Mar 24, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nashville Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm (14) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The Nashville Predators power play took a major step forward last year, going from one of the worst in the league all the way to a top-10 finish at sixth. The penalty kill, unfortunately, did not have such great fortune.
It is not like they were terrible, but they were 18th in the league and on average were not giving the Predators a great chance to win on a nightly basis.
The accumulation of penalty minutes as the season progressed undoubtedly played a role in its regression, but at the same time there were personnel issues that needed to be dealt with.
That is a huge reason why the Nashville Predators acquired Ryan McDonagh from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Heading into this year, they should have two units that realistically make it tough for opponents to score on the man advantage.
Here’s how the penalty kill units should be assembled going into 2022-23.
Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
First Unit: Sissons, Jeannot, McDonagh, Ekholm
The Predators’ first penalty kill unit is not super tough to decipher. Sissons is nearly a lock for the first center since his skills — being a defensive forward who is also responsible with the puck on his stick — make him tailor-made for this type of role.
Jeannot, who is a super physical forward capable of outworking his opponents on both ends of the ice, played critical minutes on the kill last year and definitely makes the most sense to stay on the top unit.
Adding McDonagh is where the Predators’ penalty kill really should take a big step forward. Being a stay-at-home defenseman by nature, he was brought in to do dirty work and keep pucks out of the net at both even strength and with the man in the box. There can be no doubt that he will be one of the mainstays on the first unit.
The final guy rounding it out is Ekholm, who has always played similarly to McDonagh and will do his best work in primarily defensive situations.
This right here is the best combination of forwards and defensemen on the Nashville Predators who will do the best work in their own zone, and they should be able to frustrate opposing power plays consistently.
Second Unit: Granlund, Trenin, Lauzon, Josi
Granlund is definitely the one who should play center on this unit and gives the Nashville Predators reason to feel great about this position on the penalty kill. He’s not quite the defensive presence that Sissons is, but he too is consistent and is almost always doing good things on at least one end of the ice on a nightly basis.
In this situation, Granlund has been and will continue to be just fine.
Trenin is not quite the threat like Jeannot is, but he does good things on the defensive side and with his ability to finish checks, he is able to give opposing forwards fits. He has also played critical minutes on the penalty kill in the past, and definitely will this year.
Lauzon has not been in Nashville long, but the Predators brought him in to be the third-pairing defenseman who battles hard and makes is that much tougher for opponents to score. His role is suited perfectly for the penalty kill, so it only makes sense to put him there.
The last spot was honestly a tough one, but Josi ended up making the most sense. His defensive issues are not nearly as bad as most people say, and it is critical for any penalty killing unit to have someone who can skate effectively and be first to clear the puck when that opportunity arises.
Josi checks those boxes, and with as much experience as he has as a do-it-all type of player, you cannot go wrong with him being here.
Other questions to consider
When going over the potential penalty kill units, it was hard not to think about these next two players, but also hard to imagine just how they would fit. Those players are Nino Niederreiter and Mark Borowiecki.
Niederreiter would be a great forward to have on the kill as he does all the things you need him to do — lay out the body, battle relentlessly for the puck, and make plays happen in transition. But it is difficult to justify including him at the expense of one of Trenin and Jeannot, who have established themselves as critical penalty killers for the Predators.
You would have to think that if they are struggling as a collective unit at a certain point in the year, Niederreiter might see some time in an effort to shake things up.
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With the way the Predators defense is currently constructed, it seems like he will be the odd man out as long as everyone is healthy. He certainly is suited for and has been effective as a penalty killer, but he is not so great that you want him in the lineup because of it.
Successful special teams play is critical to compete with the best teams in the NHL, and it looks like the Nashville Predators have fixed this area for 2022-23 to at minimum be top half of the league.
