Nashville Predators: 3 Bold Predictions for the 2022 Preseason

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The 2022 NHL preseason slate will open for the Nashville Predators next week as they take on the Florida Panthers in a doubleheader at Bridgestone Arena. Training camp has officially opened today with team meetings.

Preseason is all about finding the right line combinations, fine tuning your special teams, working on new systems, and of course searching for new players who might earn a roster spot out of training camp.

This preseason will be intriguing to watch due to some new faces being on the team and how they’ll fit in. Veterans will get minimal time on ice in the preseason, while the depth players and prospects will get the bulk of the action.

Don’t expect to see a ton from Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, and Mattias Ekholm, among other veterans. Maybe two or three games at most.

However, there are players like Philip Tomasino, Cody Glass, Eeli Tolvanen, Dante Fabbro, and Jeremy Lauzon who will need much more in-game reps during the preseason.

Nashville Predators 2022 Preseason Schedule

9/26, Doubleheader vs. Panthers, 4 PM EDT/8 PM EDT
9/29, @ Lightning, 7 PM EDT
9/30, vs. Lightning, 6 PM EDT
10/3, @ SC Bern, 2 PM EDT

Here are my three bold predictions for the five-game preseason schedule.

Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports /

Tomasino carries last season’s momentum into the preseason

Tomasino’s impressive rookie campaign in 2021-22 got lost in the shuffle a bit due to career years from others like Forsberg and Josi. His 32 points were commendable for such a young player, but the fact that he appeared in 76 games was equally impressive and shows me coaches were loving what they saw.

I’m looking for Tomasino to play extensive minutes in the preseason to give coaches a measuring stick on if he’s ready for top-six ice time to open the regular season. Ideally speaking, you’d love to see Tomasino fill into a second line role and solidify the top two forward lines.

Tomasino should get some light work with Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter in at least one preseason game. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think the veterans like Johansen and Niederreiter are going to play a ton, but when they’re out there I’d like to see them lined up with Tomasino.

Once the younger prospects get into the game, Tomasino should emerge as a top line guy in the preseason, and it will be fun to see how he responds to that elevated role, even if it’s just exhibition games.

My first bold prediction is that Tomasino fills the scoresheet in his preseason action, and claims his top-six role to open the regular season against the San Jose Sharks on October 7.

Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports /

Lankinen Puts Together a Sharp Preseason Showing

As much as I still don’t understand why the Nashville Predators found it necessary to sign Kevin Lankinen in the first place, I do think he can be a considerable upgrade as the backup to Juuse Saros over what we had in David Rittich.

Lankinen should get at least two starts in the five preseason games. I need to see him get a lot of work to make sure he’s seeing the puck well and ready to shake off an abysmal 2021-22 campaign.

It’s easy to forget that Lankinen’s rookie season was actually fairly decent. If he can return back to those numbers, then the Predators will be pleased with their backup situation. If he can get around 20 starts and be reliable on back-to-back situations, then the Predators will be in good shape at goaltender.

My second preseason prediction is that Lankinen performs well in his preseason action while getting two starts, and maybe even appearing in a third game. This is a great opportunity for him to set himself up for a longer contract with another team next offseason.

The goalie logjam is large, so it will be challenging for coaches to find plenty of game reps for other goaltenders like Connor Ingram, Tomas Vomacka, and Devin Cooley.

Look for Lankinen to be a big storyline in the preseason. Let’s see if he can deliver. If he looks poorly, then the questions will get even louder on why they didn’t just stick with Ingram.

Carrying the Momentum from the Prospect Showcase

It was a very productive Prospect Showcase for the Nashville Predators as they went 2-0-1 and capped it off with a resounding 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers prospects.

We’re going to see a lot of these same prospects perform with a lot of ice time in the preseason. Can a prospect or two play well enough to earn a roster spot on the Nashville Predators out of training camp?

Some key prospects who played well at the showcase that will be playing in the preseason are Egor Afanasyev, Juuso Parssinen, Markus Nurmi, Luke Evangelista, Spencer Stastney, and Yaroslav Askarov.

This core group of players, among others, will carry their positive results from the showcase into the preseason. In particular, I’m fully expecting Afanasyev to have a strong preseason and get a lot of ice time.

Askarov needs at least one or two starts to see where he’s at in his development against NHL competition. Expectations should be tempered if he gets lit up a couple times, but it’s still important to get his preseason reps in.

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Parssinen, along with Afanasyev, is getting really close to being NHL-ready. So he should also get plenty of ice time in the preseason and has an outside chance to earn himself an NHL roster spot out of training camp.

Defensively, Stastney is quickly emerging as the top defensive prospect in the system. He looked very smooth in his skating during the showcase, so look for him to play a big role in the preseason.

My final bold prediction for the preseason is this collective core group of top prospects will carry over their momentum from the showcase into the preseason and snag a couple exhibition wins for the Nashville Predators.

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