Nashville Predators All Time Scoring: Who Moves Up The Points List This Year?
The Nashville Predators are a proud very recent NHL franchise. Their career leader in points is Roman Josi, who at just 33 has some years to see how far he can push his total.
The rest of the roster though will likely end up in a new spot on the leaderboard several times this season. Let’s see where they are starting and take a guess as to where they might end up.
Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, Luke Schenn, Denis Gurianov (The Free Agents) 0 Career Predators points- Tied for 256-312th
All of these guys are starting tied for dead last. They will all eventually move up the ranks and add to the 312 players who have suited up for the Nashville Predators in the franchise’s 25-year history.
When it comes to scoring we know that O’Reilly and Nyquist are consistent scorers who will put up bigger numbers than the latter two. Schenn will put up 15 to 20 points which will put him somewhere around the 120 mark. Gurianov should put up at least 30 points, which puts him around 90th. That’s Andrew Brunette territory.
Nyquist, if he gets his average 40 points ends up tied for 81st with Nick Cousins, who needed about 120 games to reach that mark.
O’Reilly is the hardest to judge based on role, range, and health but let’s call him good for 55 points. That number puts him ahead of Nashville Predators luminaries like Marcel Goc, Cody Franson, and Radek Bonk. He’s just shy of the mighty mite Rocco Grimaldi and Yanic Perreault.
Also if you don’t feel old, prepare to. The sons of both Bonk and Perreault were first-round picks in this year’s NHL draft.
Jake Livingstone 1 Point Tied For 226th
It is unlikely that Livingstone will make a big jump, but as the defender with the best chance at being the 7th guy or first call-up from the AHL, he’s on the list.
If Livingstone can improve by one point he’ll jump into a tie for 211th with players like everyone’s Twitter friend Zach Boychuk and “Sheriff” Shane Hnidy. If he can get to five points then he ties everyone’s favorite giant Hal Gill (and a host of others) for 169th.
What’s also crazy is that Hal Gill scored those five points in the 2011-12 season, then played parts of two more and didn’t sniff a point.
Juusse Saros- 5 Points Tied for 169th
The Juuse man has produced the occasional point in his time. His peak production was three points back in 2017-18, then he went scoreless until last year.
Very unselfish, Saros only has assists and is the only candidate likely to lose his spot when it comes to scoring race in Nashville Predators history.
Tyson Barrie- 12 Points Tied for 137th
We’re likely to see a nice jump here. After getting here at the deadline Barrie did decently with 12 points in 24 games, which brought him to a year total of 55. That’s the third-best season the 31-year-old has had, and he might not match that, but he can certainly get close in his age-32 season.
We’ll give Barrie 50 points which brings his Nashville Predators total to 62, which vaults him into 60th place with Tanner Jeannot, and one point shy of fellow defenseman and former 4th-overall pick Seth Jones.
Barrie’s long-term future with the franchise does remain a bit of a mystery as possible trade bait in 2024.
Kiefer Sherwood and Jeremy Lauzon- 13 points tied for 133rd
These two aren’t ever going to be top point-getters for the Nashville Predators. Sherwood may very well put up more with the Milwaukee Admirals this season, but he proved useful in his 32-game stint and will be in the lineup at some point.
Lauzon is a slightly different story. He’s battling for a spot on a crowded blue line and due to his physical nature might end up on the shelf before he produces very much. He has some offensive talent but will certainly be a guy who gets far more defensive zone starts than offensive zone ones. His numbers should increase, but he’ll have to play a full season if he wants to match his current total. Conservatively let’s predict him to get another 15 or so points. A total of 28 is good for 91st with Nino Niederretier, Ryan Jones, Scottie Upshall, and a few more.
Luke Evangelista 15 points tied for 125th
(Cris Collinsworth voice) Now here’s a guy that should be really good. He certainly made an impact in a limited time last year with the team.
Evangelista’s 15 points in just 24 games jumped off the page. A high draft pick (42nd in 2020) Evangelista should get a shot to be a full-time NHL player this season. With additions like O’Reilly and Nyquist, Evangelista should have at least one established NHL scorer to play with, and we could see a big jump from him.
Based on last year’s pace, over an 82 season, Evangelista was in line for a 51-point year. We’ll be a little conservative with that number and call his total 45 at the end of this season. That’ll put him at 60 points and all by himself in 61st place right behind the previously mentioned Jeannot.
Cole Smith 17 Points Tied for 119th
After getting his first significant NHL time, Smith found a niche as a physical, effort and high-intensity guy. He doesn’t have huge offensive potential, but he’ll sure as heck be trying. We’ll be generous and give him a match of his points and watch him rise up to 34 points and be in prime Jason York territory, tied for 86th.
Ryan McDonagh 20 Points Tied for 107th
While McDonagh might be on the back end of his career, but he is still a very effective player. His point totals have dipped up and down but as a whole, he’ll be effective.
Now the question remains is how much will McDonagh contribute? He’s going to get minutes, sure, but the offensive zone starts are probably going to start going to other players.
Let’s say if the Predators scoring bumps up as a whole, he makes it to 25 points, that’ll be good for 45 which places him at 75th with the likes of Mark Eaton and Rob Valicevic.
Juuso Parssinen- 25 Points for 99th Place
We’ve finally made it into the top 100! It only took Parssinen one year to get there, and frankly, he should be higher on this list were it not for injury.
Parssinen is a big guy who knows how to use his size without going to the box and has shown good vision in setting others up. With some offensive additions to the lineup, Parssinen will likely play with some pretty good linemates this season, and we should see a big jump in his numbers.
Let’s set him at 45 points for the season. His total number of 70 should give him free rein of the 55th spot in the Nashville Predators’ all-time scoring list.
Cody Glass – 36 Points Tied for 83rd
Back when the trade happened in 2021 I thought Nashville had won getting Glass for Nolan Patrick. His time in Philly was very rough and you just don’t see a lot of players come back from an injury history like his. He hasn’t played a game since March 24th, 2022 (ironically against Nashville), missing the whole 22-23 season, and is currently unsigned.
Ryan Ellis played all of four games for Philadelphia before discovering a degenerative condition that has essentially ended his career as well. So even though Philippe Myers is on his way to flaming out of the league, the Predators still managed to win the trade.
Glass showed his offensive acumen with his play last season, and in theory, should improve on his year. Giving him a modest increase to around 50 points (which he should eclipse) pushes his grand total to 86. That is enough to jump up to Jerred Smithson territory in a tie for 46th.
Alexandre Carrier – 42 Points Tied for 78th
Carrier is a bit harder to project out because his last half-season didn’t really reflect his first full season. His points per game ratio and points per-60 minutes ratio both went down, and he hasn’t shown an adept ability to score goals with any regularity.
Relying on assists is a tough game, and without real power play time, Carrier better be sound defensively to gain ice time and willing to jump into a rush if he’s going to create offensively. If he reaches the 25-point mark (which isn’t bad) he’ll jump to 67 and be right with Sebastien Bordeleau at 68 points for 56th all-time.
Philip Tomasino – 50 Points Tied for 71st
Tomasino didn’t play a ton last year but was noticeable when he did. 18 points in 31 games is around .58 points per game which for a young player is a pretty good start. For the 1st rounder, it’s time to prove that he’s a full-time NHLer. He’s almost a point-a-game player in the AHL so it’s graduation time for Tomasino.
Who he plays with and the style that Head Coach Andrew Brunette brings will both factor into what we see from Tomasino, but optimistically he should be ready to jump past the 45-point mark. If we set him there, 95 points total brings the youngster up to 43rd, tied with Nick Bonino.
Thomas Novak – 50 Points Tied for 71st
We’ve got an honest-to-God race here with Tomasino and Novak. Both are in their third seasons as NHLers for the Nashville Predators and ended up at the same point total.
Novak took the biggest jump last year of nearly anyone on the team notching 43 points in 51 games. With that momentum to ride off of a full season of Novak playing up to that potential is exciting for the Predators and dangerous for the rest of the league.
If Novak can stay on that kind of tear, a 60-point season is very much in play. That’ll get him across the century mark to 110 points, into 36th, knocking Sergei Kostitsyn down a notch.
Dante Fabbro -59 Points for 61st
There isn’t too much hemming and hawing over what Fabbro brings offensively. He’s a good enough player defensively, but unless the new style Brunette brings makes it open season on scoring, Fabbro won’t be a player that see a huge boost in point scoring.
A modest raise to 20 points (which any D-man can get if the assists are generous enough) sees Fabbro to 79 and to 50th place, just past Gabriel Bourque.
Yakov Trenin – 65 Points for 56th
Trenin, over his first four seasons, has proven to be an effective player. After his 24-point performance in 2021-22, there was a reasonable expectation that he might just improve on that. He matched it and certainly could pass it, but it’ll take the right situation and linemates.
Let’s say there’s a trickle-down from the offense improving and Trenin can make it to 30 points. He’ll be in step with Tomasino and tie Nick Bonino for 43rd.
Colton Sissons – 165 Points for 27th
Sissons is probably in the last year or two of his prime as a player. He’s basically leveled out to a 30-point player, which is fine. He brings a solid two-way game and typically gets a tougher defensive task rather than the prime offensive minutes.
If there is some extra distribution of talent he might get a talented player or two that helps bring up the bottom six, but until that’s a sure thing, we’ll give him another 30-point season.
Getting to 195 points places Sissons in 25th, just behind the now-departed Matt Duchene. He overtakes Marek Zidlicky and Dan Hamhuis in the process.
Filip Forsberg – 511 Points for 3rd
There’s a massive gap here. Forsberg has been one of the most talented players to ever grace a Nashville Predators lineup but has only scored up to that talent once, back in 2021-22 when he had an 84-point season.
Forsberg’s biggest key is staying healthy. He’ll have plenty of talent this year around, but if he can’t be on the ice to utilize it, then the Preds might end up missing the playoffs again.
Forsberg should have a 65-70 season in his sleep. If we lean higher to 70 that’ll give him 581 points, which puts him solidly in 2nd, passing the legend of David Legwand. It also helps him keep pace with the franchise points leader.
Roman Josi – 601 Points for 1st
Every point for Josi helps expand his franchise-defining number of points. He’s in the back nine of his career, but he has proven that his game will age gracefully. He’s going to get every important minute he can carry and he’ll get the choicest power play time.
Going into 2023-24, Josi has a 90-point gap on Forsberg and is padding his franchise lead over second-place Legwand who has 566 career points.
Josi has a 65 to 75-point year in him. Last year in limited time he had 59 points. Let’s set him at 75 and he’ll push up to 676, which gives him ownership of 35th all-time among NHL defensemen, and increases his lead amongst the Nashville Predators.