Alright fellow comic book nerds like myself, we can all probably agree that Filip Forsberg holds down the "Batman" role for the Nashville Predators. My question is, who will take on the trusty sidekick role of "Robin" in 2025-26? Forsberg can't do it alone as we painfully witnessed last season.
Forsberg has been leading this franchise for a while now, even though he doesn't hold the Captain role, which is rightfully held by Roman Josi. And to be clear, for a while now Forsberg and Josi have been the 1A and the 1B for this franchise in terms of superstar talent. Everything drops down a tier after those two, unless you want to include the goalie position and Juuse Saros.
I thought Matt Duchene, for all of the criticism he received from Predators fans at the time, was a great "Robin" to Forsberg. We all knew it was Forsberg's team, but Duchene matched his production tit-for-tat during that 2021-22 season. In fact, Duchene actually beat out Forsberg by two points that year.
The following year, Forsberg only played in 50 games due to injury so we never really got to see that sidekick duo see if they could pull it off again. Duchene would finish with 56 points in 71 games, his final season in Nashville before shockingly being bought out and now doing quite well for himself with the Dallas Stars.
Most of your Stanley Cup contenders for 2025-26 have multiple superstars and plenty of sidekicks to go along with their superstars. The Predators, unfortunately, lack a lot of depth behind their superstar Forsberg.
So who is going to be most ready to step up and be "Robin" to Forsberg's "Batman"? Let's discuss.