Nashville Predators: Grading David Poile’s 2022 Offseason Moves after 20 Games

Nino Niederreiter:  B

I have to be honest here; I’m a little underwhelmed so far by the impact Niederreiter is making on the Nashville Predators. He hasn’t been what I would call a bust, but I did expect a little more return on investment, and it could still pay off down the stretch.

Niederreiter is signed for three years at $4M. Not a massive contract so there’s nothing to shield your eyes over like the past contract disasters of Kyle Turris, or the current two of Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene.

I would like to see Niederreiter become a little bit more of an impact player offensively. We can’t sweep it under the rug that the Predators are a liability offensively. However, they do have the occasional clutch goal scoring ability like when Mikael Granlund scored with just 10 seconds left in regulation to eventually get the win over the New Jersey Devils.

The fact is, Niederreiter is on a current five-game pointless streak. You can’t have that from a top-six forward that was considered a vital addition in the offseason.

Niederreiter obviously is a two-way player that does many other things well. That’s why he still gets a respectable “B” grade. I breezed my way through college with B’s, so nothing to scoff at.

As Mom used to say, I’d still like to see you push for that “A”.