Who’s Hot with the Nashville Predators with the Season Near the End

The Nashville Predators have reached the three-quarter mark of the 2022-23 NHL regular season. Game 62 marked the three-quarter point and at that time the Predators held a record of 31-24-7 and found themselves sitting outside the playoffs.

The roster for the Nashville Predators has gone through a massive amount of turnover and leaning on inexperience and newcomers on the roster, which takes time to build chemistry.

I am going to take a look at Who’s Hot with the Nashville Predators through 62 games. There have been quite a few players that could make the Not Hot list and that list will follow, but for now let’s take a look at four players that have contributed the most for this team that has gone through its struggles, but defied the odds to hang around in the playoff race.

The Mid-Season list contained Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh, and Juuso Parssinen. Juuse Saros received an Honorable Mention at that point of the season.

Thomas “Tommy” Novak

During the third quarter of the Nashville Predators season, Thomas Novak has really started to come into form and play some good hockey. The 25-year-old, third round pick for the Predators in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, was initially called up from Milwaukee on December 19, 2022 and has no intentions of going back.

From January 14 – March 9, Novak posted five goals and 15 assists. Two of his five goals came on the power play, which has been a sore topic for this Predators team all season. In the +/- column, Novak is a -2.

Being a veteran in Milwaukee, Novak has a very disciplined style of play and has only taken two minor penalties over these 19 games. If Novak can keep this level of play going, he will be one reason why the Predators have a chance of making the Playoffs this season.

Remarkably, Novak missed over two months to open the season but is fifth on the team in points with 29 in 35 games played.

#95 Matt Duchene

Matt Duchene has finally started to find his rhythm on the ice. Being paired with some younger talent for a lot of the quarter in the absence of Filip Forsberg, Duchene has a new energy about him and is feeding off the younger players.

Duchene posted eight goals and eleven assists in 19 games played. Averaging nearly 20 minutes TOI per game, Duchene leads all forwards in this category.

After taking some stupid minor penalties early in the season, Duchene has also been playing smarter and only committed one minor penalty during this quarter. In the +/- column, Duchene is a +4 which is a direct result of the offensive mindset of the newer additions to this Nashville Predators lineup.

Kevin Lankinen

Now I know that during the third quarter, Kevin Lankinen only played in four games between the pipes for Nashville, but what he did in those four games was remarkable.

Lankinen had a record of 3-1-0 over this stretch, had a 2.0 goals against average, and posted an astounding .934 save percentage. For a back-up goaltender in this league, that is some pretty good numbers.

Over the course of the entire season, Lankinen has a 2.46 goals against average and .925 save percentage. Coming off a season last year where the Nashville Predators had David Rittich as a back up to Juuse Saros, the addition of Lankinen has paid dividends this season and has provided much needed confidence for the organization when they go to their back up.

Having signed Lankinen now through the end of next season, the tandem of Saros and Lankinen will be a force to be reckoned with against their opponents. Together, they make one of the best goaltender tandems in the league.

#59 Roman Josi

Now this list would not be complete without Roman Josi on it. Behind Saros, Josi is the anchor of this team. No matter what situation this team is in, Josi has been called upon and has answered the call.

Josi ranks 6th in the NHL in average time on ice per game with 25:23. While he is not scoring at the same rate he did last season, which who would expect him to do that year after year, it’s called a career season for a reason, he is still putting up some pretty impressive numbers.

In 21 games played, the captain found the back of the net seven times, three on the man advantage, and assisted on another 16 goals for a +6 rating. One area that Josi has struggled in is penalties, picking up 12 penalty minutes from January 14 – March 9 in 21 games played.

It would be a surprise if at the seasons end, Josi is not in the talks for a Norris Trophy nomination.