Nashville Predators Lineup Questions Starting to Become More Clear?
By Chad Minton
Three preseason games in and the Nashville Predators have just three goals to show for it, but we are beginning to get some clues on what Head Coach Andrew Brunette is thinking about potential line combinations.
The Nashville Predators returned home for the first time this preseason with many star players making their preseason debuts, including Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi and Ryan O’Reilly. Unfortunately, they still took the 2-1 overtime loss while the offense continues to work out the kinks.
This game felt much more like a dress rehearsal run for the Predators, with only a few expected starters not suiting up. Yakov Trenin is fully expected to be a starter and wasn’t available, while Colton Sissons also didn’t participate.
Clues to what the Nashville Predators Opening Night Lineup Will Look Like?
Brunette made an interesting choice for his top line winger to play alongside Forsberg and O’Reilly, He went with Denis Gurianov, who is looking to revitalize his NHL career here in Nashville after being signed to a one-year, $850K prove it deal.
O’Reilly getting top line center duties alongside Forsberg on the wing is of no surprise, and unless Brunette just pulls an unexpected audible, those two will absolutely be on Nashville’s top line to open 2023-24.
Although Gurianov will likely not end up on the top line when the regular season opens, it does make it clear that Brunette is still testing some things out on what his top-six will look like.
Further down the lineup, the second line shaped up to be Cody Glass at center, which is no surprise, and wingers Gustav Nyquist and Philip Tomasino. This line could very well end up being what Brunette ultimately decides to start with for 2023-24 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 10.
I just can’t see the Predators leaving Nyquist in the bottom six of the lineup. They’ve already hinted throughout training camp that they want a balance of veterans and youth throughout the lineup, and Nyquist with Glass and Tomasino makes perfect sense.
Predators Depth on 4th Line and Bottom Defensive Pairing
Shifting to the defense, it was rather thought provoking that Dante Fabbro, Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier were held out of the lineup on Wednesday. All three are prime candidates for Nashville third defensive pairing, but instead Spencer Stastney and Marc Del Gaizo got the chance to start.
Fabbro did get top pairing minutes in one of the doubleheader matchups with the Florida Panthers, while Carrier logged over 21 minutes of ice time in his action while the Predators outscored a combined 10-2 in those two games.
Stastney made his NHL debut this past season and was drafted by the Predators in the 5th round of 2018. He is widely perceived as the next one up in the Predators pipeline of up-and-coming defenseman and has a reasonable chance of making the team right out of training camp.
As for Del Gaizo, he has yet to make his NHL debut as a 4th Round pick from 2019. He has two full years under his belt with the Milwaukee Admirals, and is another prospect rising up the defenseman pipeline but has a bit longer to go than Stastney, at least you would assume.
Nashville third defensive pairing is still very much up for consideration, with the top-four of Roman Josi, Luke Schenn, Tyson Barrie and Ryan McDonagh being pretty much etched in stone.
Can Stastney beat out one of the other three defensemen who didn’t play on Wednesday? I wouldn’t completely throw out that notion.
light. Related Story. How Will Nashville Fill Out Their Bottom-6 Forwards?
Finally, let’s cover Nashville’s fourth line. They rolled with Reid Schaefer, Michael McCarron and Zachary L’Heureux. All three have an uphill battle of making it into the starting lineup on opening night, although McCarron does have considerable NHL experience and will probably make it into some NHL games at some point in 2023-24.
We can’t draw any hasty conclusions on what the fourth line will look like after three preseason games. A lot to unfold and figure out with three preseason games remaining. I suspect we’ll more of Egor Afanasyev as a potential fourth line player, along with Mark Jankowski and Kiefer Sherwood.
