Who’s Not Hot with the Nashville Predators

Who’s Not Hot with the Nashville Predators…

We have taken a look at four players, with one honorable mention, of Who’s Hot with the Nashville Predators. Now we will take a look at four individuals who really need to improve their game if the Nashville Predators want to have a chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.

With the poor play of the Nashville Predators so far this season, this list could have included other players as well… but here is Who’s Not Hot in Smashville.

#28 Eeli Tolvanen

Eeli Tolvanen has skated in 13 of the Predators 18 games this season. Tolvanen’s stats throughout the 13 games he has skated in is 4 points (2 G, 2 A), -2, 4 penalty minutes, and only 19 shots on goal. Tolvanen has also averaged approximately 13 minutes of ice time ranging from 9:09 to 15:46 per game.

For a first-round draft pick by the Preds in the 2017 NHL Draft (30th overall pick), Tolvanen has not lived up to the expectations of the organization. It is clear as to why he has been a healthy scratch on 5 separate occasions this season. Not only is Tolvanen currently fighting for a spot in the lineup on a nightly basis. At this point in his career, Tolvanen is also fighting to not be on the chopping block as a possible trade piece for the Preds.

#3 Jeremy Lauzon

Other than his physical play that he brought to the lineup against the New York Rangers, Jeremy Lauzon has not played good in his first 14 games of the 2022-2023 season. The Nashville Predators defenseman has only posted 1 assist and has 9 shots on goal.

In addition to being nearly non-existent on the scoresheet, Lauzon also has 26 penalty minutes. Lauzon has been decent in the defensive end and is currently a -3 in the +/- column. Jeremy Lauzon has a lot more that he can bring to the Predators on the ice but he needs to make better decisions and stay out of the box if he wants to be a pivotal part of this roster and help his team make a run for the playoffs.

Head Coach – John Hynes

The start of the Nashville Predators season has been terrible for lack of better term. To this point of the season, it appears as though the biggest issue could be behind the bench. The 2021-2022 NHL season saw Coach Hynes take the Predators, a team that no one said would make the playoffs at the beginning of the season, to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Nashville Predators played with drive and grit all season long even though they had an early exit in the first round.

The summer of 2022 saw the Nashville Predators add to their roster and build it to be a Stanley Cup contender during the 2022-2023 season. Now, some of the issue in general has been the play on the ice but Head Coach John Hynes has not helped the situation at all. It appears as though he took everything that worked during the 2021-2022 season and threw it out the window.

Through 18 games played the teams power play ranks 29th in the league at 16.2%, the penalty kill is still decent ranking 10th at 80%, the Predators rank 20th in shots faced per game, largely in part to their lack of offensive zone time.

Coach Hynes cannot seem to put a solid lineup together for consecutive games. Very rarely are lines paired up the same way each game which prevents them from building chemistry and having on ice success. If the Predators want to turn the season around, be successful, and have a chance at making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, something behind the bench has got to change, and it needs to change soon before the Preds fall even further in the standings.

Let’s get this Season Turned Around Smashville…

This wraps up the list of Who’s Not Hot in Smashville. The season is still young with less than a quarter of it gone, but if the Preds want to make the Playoffs this season these individuals are going to need to step it up in order to get it done. Let’s see if they can do it starting with their next game against the Minnesota Wild. We will take a look at this list again later in the season and see if anyone has come off the Not list. Until then… Lets go Preds!