How Andrew Brunette is Playing Chess with Nashville Predators Lineup

It is truly incredible to watch Head Coach Andrew Brunette manage the evolving Nashville Predators lineup with so many effective pieces, but figuring out where to put them to maximize their level of play.

The Predators are currently riding a six-game winning streak after the overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, getting them above .500 for the first time in 2023-24.

If the Predators can get a win against the Minnesota Wild in the John Hynes reunion game, then it would be just the fifth time in franchise history to get a winning streak longer than six games. The longest win streak is 10 games from the Presidents Trophy season of 2017-18.

Brunette is Accomplishing a lot in Short Amount of Time for Predators

What Brunette is accomplishing as a game manager while also teaching a new style of play to both veterans and youth is the mark of an outstanding head coach. No one would really be batting an eye if the Predators remained in last place, or close to it like they were before this win streak began.

However, Brunette has kept the team engaged and pushing hard through the adversity. Again, a mark of a great head coach. He has shown tough love to some of his youth, most notably Philip Tomasino. And now look at how Tomasino has responded to that challenge with points in five of his last six games during this win streak.

Luke Evangelista and Juuso Parssinen have also been healthy scratches, albeit only for one game each.

Then there’s the identification of a truly trustworthy top line. It didn’t happen instantly. There was a trial and error phase, but Brunette seems to really be locked in with the top line of Ryan O’Reilly at center, and Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist as the wingers.

Among forward lines in the NHL with at least 30 minutes played together, the Forsberg/O’Reilly/Nyquist combo sits just outside the top-20 in Expected Goals. And their 139 minutes as a line is significantly lower than many of the forward lines in the top-20. (Per MoneyPuck).

So again, Brunette deserves the kudos for figuring out his top line within the first 20 games of the season. Perhaps he shifts from that again at some point, but as of now, I would expect him to not go away from what’s working as the Predators offense is finally starting finish scoring chances.

Then there’s the power play, which is what Brunette is known for. The power play has had it’s ups and downs like most power play units experience over the course of an 82-game grind. Brunette has settled on two power play units who are somewhat different from each other.

Predators Power Play hasn’t Come Close to Peaking Yet

Ranking just 17th among power plays in the NHL doesn’t sound great at all, but it is fair to assume that this unit will only continue to show steady improvement as the season rolls on.

Your top unit is veteran driven. It hopes to get the power play off to a strong start holding that precious zone time and wearing out the penalty killers. If the Predators don’t connect early in the power play, their second unit if more young talent and speed driven with Evangelista, Tomasino and Parssinen out there.

It sometimes gets overlooked in the haze, but the best asset an NHL head coach can bring aside from player development is effectively managing a lineup. One mistake in this area can cause a ripple effect that hurts the rest of the team.

Brunette’s task of managing this newly-constructed Predators roster will continue to be a tall order for the remainder of 2023-24. But you can’t help but come away very impressed by how he’s moving all of the pieces around and still getting positive results from up and down the lineup, especially with bad injury luck to Cody Glass and Thomas Novak.

As luck would have it, the Predators will see their former head coach John Hynes on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena as the Minnesota Wild announced that they’ve made the switch behind the bench.

Will there be more bumps along the way with Brunette molding this lineup the he sees fit? Of course there will be, but he’s the right head coach to keep everyone together.

As people like to say, “Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day”, and for Brunette is laying down that strong foundation for the Nashville Predators.