This is going to be a difficult exercise I'm giving myself in search of the Nashville Predators' team MVP after the first month of the season.
No team in the NHL is underperforming preseason expectations as much as the Predators are right now, so finding a team MVP isn't going to be easy. However, it's not all doom and gloom, either.
It appears that General Manager Barry Trotz is already getting close to pulling the rug out from under this team based on recent play. He made some resoundingly candid comments to 102.5 The Game about a rebuild plan coming if things don't change soon.
So who is the MVP of this team if you have to pick one?
Filip Forsberg
The first player I think of is naturally Filip Forsberg. He leads the team in points with 10 and goals with six. The next-closest goal scorer is Ryan O'Reilly with three.
Forsberg is also fourth on the team in hits with 31, which stands out the most. He only trails Cole Smith among the forwards in the hit category.
The problem is Forsberg hasn't looked like the unstoppable player he was last season on his way to a career-high 94 points. The constant line shuffling is disrupting the team's chemistry, and the top line with O'Reilly and Gustav Nyquist hasn't been as prolific as last season.
In other words, Forsberg has been pretty good despite the team's bad start, but he clearly can't do it on his own.
Juuse Saros
Saros' numbers aren't great, they're just decent. Sitting at a .902 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA in 10 starts. I will argue that Saros has been the victim of a lot of defensive breakdowns in front of him, while also conceding that Saros hasn't been able to overcome and be the hero on many occassions.
Without Saros' steadiness, I actually think the Predators could be even in a worse situation than they already are. Just go back to their first win of the season against Boston. Saros faced a barrage of scoring chances early in that game before the Predators could find their offense.
If Saros cracks under pressure in the Boston game, that would've been another game of needing a comeback and who knows, the Predators may have fallen to 0-6-0.
Now making Saros the team MVP is probably a stretch because quite frankly his Goals Saved Above Expected isn't elite. With that said, despite his 3-6-1 record, Saros is actually barely in the positive in GSA at 0.9, or 26th among NHL goalies per MoneyPuck.
So again, he's been decent but certainly not great or at the level to overcome the other issues the Predators have right now. Sometimes elite goalies can mask a lot of problems, and Saros hasn't been able to do that so far.
Roman Josi
This pains me to admit this, but something isn't right with the captain right now. Josi has been reduced to an ordinary player and not the dynamic offensive driver we're used to seeing him be.
Josi has just one goal to go along with six assists. Way behind his normal point output, but we are really early in the season and all it takes is a few multi-point games and suddenly he's back on his normal point-per game pace.
When discussing team MVP candidates for the Predators, Josi is normally an easy choice. That's just not the case right now. The Predators badly need him to up his level of play and pull this offense out of the mud that is currently 29th in the NHL in goals per game at 2.42. Down from 3.24 goals per game last season.
As the captain, Josi knows this falls on him as the leader on the ice. All eyes will be on him to see if the Predators can turn it around quickly. If Josi gets back to the dominant offensive defenseman we're accustomed to seeing, the Predators should naturally see an uptick in offensive production and in return start piling up some wins.
The free agent newcomers: Stamkos, Marchessault, Skjei
Obviously this is the biggest disappointment surrounding the entire team. There has been some blips on the radar, but most this trio of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei has been a disastrous letdown for the Predators.
Stamkos and Marchessault have a combined four goals after combinding for 82 goals last season. Skjei has sprinkled in some offense, but I haven't been crazy about his two-way game and he definitely has not looked like a $7 million dollar player.
If I foresaw answering this question before the season started, I would've given high probability that maybe Stamkos or Marchessault would be your team MVP after the first month. That couldn't be farther from reality now. They have largely been ineffective, and the frustration is plain is day on their faces.
Verdict
I said at the beginning of this exercise that this wasn't going to be an easy task because the entire team is underperforming. No one on this team, aside from Zachary L'Heureux looking good as a rookie, has been overly impressive.
It comes down between Forsberg and Saros if I have to choose. Forsberg can't do it all on his own, but I'm going to cautiously pick Saros as the team MVP. He hasn't been as bad as his win-loss record indicates.
Saros has actually done what he can to overcome defensive miscues and lack of goal support as previously mentioned. And while the Predators penalty kill is the team's biggest strength, Saros deserves credit for some of that success as well.
What stands out the most in support of making Saros the team MVP is his save percentage against power play shots. He has only surrendered two power play goals with a .957 save percentage. If he is struggling in this area, it's likely the Predators are sitting at an even worse position in the standings than they already are.