Nashville Predators: Where Does Their Defensive Core Rank in the Central Division?

It’s been a few years, maybe even since the Presidents Trophy season of 2017-18, since you can realistically be this confident top to bottom in the Nashville Predators roster.

This team is deep, has a nice blend of young talent to go along with veteran experience, and that should equal to being a very competitive team in the Central Division that went through a lot of changes of its own over the offseason.

We already ranked the Nashville Predators’ projected top line among the rest in the Central Division, and also ranked the starting goalies within the division.

The Nashville Predators ranked pretty high in both of those, but where would you put them among the division’s defensive cores?

This is an area that has been up and down for the Nashville Predators in recent years. Everyone knows that Roman Josi is one of the best in the game, but sometimes the defensive part of his game can be exposed.

The Predators have a solid group of defensemen heading into 2022-23, but how do they stack up against the others in the Central Division?

All projected line combinations are courtesy of Daily Faceoff. and each team’s official website roster.

#8: Arizona Coyotes

(Jakob Chychrun, Shayne Gostisbehere, Dysin Mayo, Conor Timmins, Patrik Nemeth, J.J. Moser, Troy Stetcher)

Oh, the poor Arizona Coyotes. I feel like we keep beating up on them with these position rankings, but honestly their roster is just completely decimated. They’re truly in the deep pits of a rebuild and are going to have a hard time competing at a high level with most NHL teams this season.

The burning question is what is going to happen with Jakob Chychrun? He’s still requesting a trade as recently as a few weeks ago.

If Chychrun ends up playing and producing for the Coyotes this season, then obviously he gives the team a chance to maybe not be the worst defensive unit in the division. I just can’t trust that he’ll actually play and play at a high level at that.

As of now, Chychrun hasn’t even began skating yet and the organization is taking a “patient” approach in terms of getting him 100 percent healthy, per Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts Podcast. 

The Coyotes defensive core after an uncertain Chychrun is led by Shayne Gostisbehere, who was acquired in the 2021 offseason and turned in an 82-game season and 51 points. Not bad at all, so he’s the leader of this very inexperienced unit.

Dysin Mayo is the up-and-comer to watch in this group. He finally got his NHL opportunity last season and looked good enough to earn some long-term trust from the Coyotes front office.

The group gets thin with experience in their depth with players like Conor Timmins (39 NHL games) and J.J. Moser (43 NHL games). Work-in-progress is what you call this unit, and more than likely a lot of growing pains in 2022-23.

#6: Minnesota Wild

(Mathew Dumba, Jared Spurgeon, J.J. Brodin, Jacob Middleton, Alex Goligoski, Calen Addison, Andrej Sustr, Jon Merrill)

I’m going to get a lot of push back for the preseason media darlings that are the Minnesota Wild for ranking their d-core so far back. But hear me; this list was extremely difficult to compile, and I’m just not overly impressed when I look that the Wild defensemen on paper.

This isn’t to say that they’re all scrub, because they’re clearly not. They have a bunch of serviceable defensemen that can do some good things. However, they lack superstar, elite talent anywhere in this position group.

Dumba is a hard-hitting, no-nonsense player that brings an edge to his game (114 hits last season). He’s just not overly productive offensively enough to impress you on a team’s top two defensive pairs.

Then you have Spurgeon, the elder statesman of the group. He brings some offensive skills to the group, but still nothing that pops off the page going into his 13th NHL season.

Middleton is a young and quality defensive-minded player that should keep getting better, but I have to see it to believe it.

The Wild as a whole will be a playoff team more than likely in 2022-23, but their d-core leaves a lot to be desired when you put them up against other teams within the division.

#5: Winnipeg Jets

(Dyland Demelo, Josh Morrissey, Brenden Dillon, Neal Pionk, Logan Stanley, Nate Schmidt)

Many project the Winnipeg Jets to take a step backward in 2022-23, and their defensive core isn’t going to wow you by any stretch of the imagination. However, they do have some veterans who can right the ship somewhat.

Seven-year veteran Dylan Demelo leads this modest group of defensemen that has a new defensive-minded head coach in Rick Bowness. An old school coach if you will that’s going to preach a disciplined defensive culture.

Demelo is a little underrated around the league because he doesn’t pile up the points, but he has decent qualities as a pure defensive player.

Another quality veteran you can’t overlook is Nate Schmidt. Going into his 10th NHL season, he just put up his second-highest season point total with 32 points. He’s a strong leader even if he’s not at the top of the depth chart.

Josh Morrissey isn’t well known outside of Jets circles, but the guy is another quality player for this team. Hits hard (150 hits last season) and put up a career high in points with 37.

Collectively it’s a unit that is middle of the road, but certainly has some promise. Just not loaded with much superstar talent.

There is a lot of competition with this group coming out of training camp, as noted by Ken Wiebe in his Jets wrap up on Sportsnet.

#5: Dallas Stars

(Miro Heiskanen, Ryan Suter, Esa Lindell, Colin Miller, Thomas Harley, Jani Hakanpaa)

This unit took a significant loss over the offseason when John Klingberg left for the Anaheim Ducks. However, there’s no denying the young superstar talent of Miro Heiskanen.

Heiskanen is heading into his fifth NHL season and has recorded 30-plus points in three of those four seasons.  He has a lot of offensive upside and should continue to improve into a potential Norris Trophy sleeper candidate.

Ryan Suter’s best years are behind him, but he is still a quality veteran presence on the blueline to pair up with Heiskanen, or possibly Esa Lindell.

Lindell is in the prime of his career at age 28 and is often overlooked around the league. He provides quality depth to this unit and is a strong defensive force.

Colin Miller and Jani Hakanpaa provide even more depth to this unit that should make the Stars another probable playoff team in 2022-23. Are they elite enough as a whole to push the Stars back to deep postseason success? That’s up in the air. But they’re definitely no slouches on the blueline.

#3: Nashville Predators

(Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, Mattias Ekholm, Alexandre Carrier, Jeremy Lauzon, Dante Fabbro, Mark Borowiecki)

Adding Ryan McDonagh over the offseason put this unit as maybe a top-10 in the entire NHL. I’m putting them modestly at No.3, but you can make an argument to move them up to No.2.

Roman Josi is obviously elite level and one of the best, so that speaks for itself. Hands down the best offensive defenseman in the NHL.

McDonagh gives this unit a championship pedigree, veteran experience, and wise penalty killing to protect the goaltender.

Ekholm has been vastly underrated outside of Nashville Predators circles for a while, but people who follow the game closely know how valuable he is and how many teams would go to great lengths to have him on even their top pairing in some cases.

Carrier is still very young by NHL standards, but really shined in his rookie season. He’s only going to get better, you would expect at least.

The only thing keeping me from putting this unit in the top two of the division rankings is I can’t fully entrust in the third pairing until I see results on the ice this season. A trio of Fabbro, Lauzon and Borowiecki can be a quality combination for a third pairing, but they have to avoid costly mistakes and too many penalties for a team that commits a lot of them.

Overall, the Nashville Predators have a more than commendable defensive core that can go toe-to-toe against the majority of the other units in the NHL.

#2: St. Louis Blues

(Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, Torey Krug, Justin Faulk, Niko Mikkola, Robert Bortuzzo, Calle Rosen

Top to bottom, I rank the Blues ever so slightly higher than the Predators. They may not have the superstar level talent of Josi, but collectively they are very deep. Deeper than I can confidently say the Predators are.

To start, Parayko is in the prime of his career as assistant captain of the Blues and is the prototypical two-way defenseman.

Leddy played just 20 games for the Blues last season after coming over from the Red Wings. It remains to be seen what kind of impact he can make this season on them, but they’re counting on him to deliver in a top pairing role.

Krug is probably the best offensive defenseman on this Blues squad, and again, you’re seeing a load of NHL veteran experience along with Leddy and Parayko. Krug is extremely valuable on the Blues power play putting up 16 assists on that unit last season.

Bortuzzo is a goon, but another veteran defenseman on the third pairing that can be trusted in that role.

The Blues and the Predators might very well battle it out until Game 82 of the regular season to figure out who finishes runner-up to the Avalanche. Speaking of which….

#1: Colorado Avalanche

(Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson, Kurtis MacDermid)

I hate to go chalk here and wish I could offer you some spicy take, but I’d be foolish to deny it. The Colorado Avalanche, while also having one of the best forward groups as well, is just stacked defensively.

Makar is the second coming of Josi and may end up being better when it’s all said and done. Not ready to take that leap just yet. It’s rare to win back-to-back Norris Trophies, but he just might do it.

Toews is quickly rising as one of the NHL’s elite defensemen in his own right. Age 28 and going into just his fifth NHL season, but bursting out offensively last season with 57 points to go along with averaging over 25 minutes of ice time and coming in 8th place in the Norris Trophy voting.

Manson was acquired during last season and played in 22 regular season game and is just a massive hitter. He put up 179 hits in 2021-22, and added another 104 blocks. Just a hard-working, menacing player.

Girard is getting ready to take off too, but is still young by NHL standards. A former 2nd-round pick by the Predators in 2016, if he takes off in 2022-23, then this unit is going to be downright unfair.

There is a reason why so many people are giving the Avalanche a strong chance to win two Stanley Cups in a row in 2023. They are loaded on both ends.