Risers and Fallers in Nashville Predators Stock Report Heading into 2023

Soaring ⇑

When Juuse Saros gets a little goal support and his team isn’t constantly giving the puck away in the zone, he’s a pretty difficult goaltender to score on. Imagine that?

Saros is blazing up the charts right now giving up three goals or less in his last nine games, and posting a save percentage above 93 in six of those nine.

Frankly speaking, Saros is keeping one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL around in games they have no business being in. Final scores that should be three or four goal margins are instead keeping the low-scoring Predators within striking distance.

Saros is rounding into Vezina Trophy form. He’s up to sixth in the NHL in Goals Save Above Expected despite having the third-most Expected Goals Against, per MoneyPuck.

Even though he’s usually under constant attack, Saros isn’t folding. Whether that is sustainable against some of the top tier teams is a debate for another day.

When you have an elite caliber, world class goaltender like Saros between the pipes, you always have a chance. That’s why it’s hard to think the Predators will ever be bad enough to “tank” or fall into a top-10 lottery pick discussion.

Saros has been thrown around as a massive trade chip to start a full scale rebuild. That would certainly send shockwaves throughout the league.

When it comes to Saros’ stock, it’s soaring. Don’t be surprised if he gets another Vezina Trophy nomination. Hinges on how far he takes the Predators in the standings.