Nashville Predators: Projecting a Fully Healthy Forward Core for the Future

Line 3: Egor Afansyev — Juuso Parssinen — Kiefer Sherwood

The reason why the second line center position was tough was because between Parssinen, Glass, and Novak, somebody was going to be the odd man out of the top six. Unfortunately by virtue of the latter two playing well during his absence, Parssinen is the one who ends up getting the boot to the third line.

It does not mean he is in a bad situation, however, as he is alongside two teammates with whom he should play well.

Afanasyev has yet to record  a point in seven games, but it is certainly not for a lack of trying. He is working hard in the offensive zone and has gotten a few chances, but he is extremely raw and not playing big minutes right now.

In his first seven NHL games, Afanasyev has at least one shot on goal in each of those games in very limited ice time of 9:47.  He will break through, he just needs time as he learns the sport at the NHL level. And it is not like he is a liability out there, so there is no reason to worry with him.

Now it was a bit tough to choose between Sherwood and Rasmus Asplund, as you probably have slightly more potential with Asplund, but he really has not done anything in the lineup.

Sherwood has actually played pretty well recently, as he forechecks hard and just plays with a lot of energy, which is nice to have in your bottom six.

Sherwood’s most recent game against the Kraken in which he battled hard and even got a goal showed that he deserves to be in the lineup every night that everyone is healthy, which is fun to see considering he got waived in early November.

You have to appreciate the tenacity that Sherwood shows on every shift.

These players have hardly played together if at all, so if they were to become a line, there might be some growing pains and lack of productivity at the very beginning. But if they were given time, they would become quite an effective grouping with the talent and effort they play with.