Unpacking the Complex Future at Goaltender for the Nashville Predators

If there is one position that the Nashville Predators have not had to worry about at all for the last decade plus, it is goaltending. Pekka Rinne was the heart and soul of the team for about 13 years, and Juuse Saros has now established himself as the one to fall back on.

Saros is easily one of the best goaltenders in the league, playing in his first full season as the starter and finishing third in Vezina voting last season. It was unfortunate that a late season injury forced him to miss the 2022 playoffs, but thankfully was not long-term.

Additionally, Saros is also only 27-years-old, so he has several years left of expected elite-level play giving the Predators a puncher’s chance every year to do something special.

Nashville Predators have tricky goaltending choices to make in the future

The Nashville Predators also have a borderline generational goaltending prospect in Yaroslav Askarov, who has been living up to that hype in rookie camp. This sets up possibly a situation in two or three years where the Predators have two possibly elite goaltenders at the same time.

There is definitely a big question about future goaltending, but it certainly is not about lack of options.

Let’s get one thing right, the Predators are in win-now mode, and Saros is undoubtedly the guy that is fit for that. He has three more years left on his contract, so a decision on his long-term future isn’t the priority currently.

That being said, you might start to think about it because Askarov very well could be ready to start at that time. You do not want to rush prospects, and especially not goaltenders. However, with how he is looking, a dominant year playing with the Milwaukee Admirals likely.

If that happens, Askarov could be the backup to Saros starting next year, which puts him in a realistic position to be a starter in the 2025-26 season. At that point, is it worth it to give Saros another huge contract when they have a guy who is expected to be possibly even better?

It really is a tough call, because as good as Askarov is supposed to be, getting rid of an established goaltender like Saros is a risk because they are so rare. And he will be rightfully demanding a long-term deal up there with one of the richest at the position, so the Predators will be forced to either commit to him or not.

What does all this mean for Connor Ingram?

Another question, and a more current one, is what happens to Connor Ingram? The guy has shown really good flashes, but just has not gotten an opportunity to truly prove anything, and it does not look like he is going to get to.

Kevin Lankinen is in town as a one-year stopgap, so it seems like Ingram does not have much of a purpose here. Especially with Askarov’s continuing progress.

It’s really stunning to not be seeing Ingram as the backup to Saros this year because he has done everything in his limited amount of time on the NHL level to earn it. However, the Predators obviously see it another way.

Possibly even more stunning is that Ingram is still even on the team, because he is not going to play in Nashville, and if Askarov steals the show in Milwaukee, he will not play as much there either. There are teams without reliable backup goaltenders who could use Ingram, so why would the Predators not even try to get something in return?

Both sides would benefit from it at this point, and it still could happen, but seems unlikely with the regular season right upon us.

What will be the real difficult decision is when the Nashville Predators have to choose between Saros and Askarov, because it truly would be shocking if it were not a one or the other situation.

Saros is the current stud who still has the vast majority of his best years ahead of him, but Askarov has been labeled as the true future of the franchise if he continues on this same trajectory.

We will see what they decide, and it will be far from an easy decision.