It's probably not a surprise to anyone that Juuse Saros is once again the workhorse for the offensively-deprived Nashville Predators. The team is just kind of hanging around in the middle, but not considered a serious threat to make the playoffs.
Saros is already leading the NHL in a lot of categories that show just how much he is being relied upon by the Predators. He already has started 11 of Nashville's 13 games, with a record of 5-4-2. His save percentage doesn't jump off the screen or anything, with a .905 percent.
Juuse Saros is going to be the workhorse of the NHL again for the Nashville Predators
There aren't many goalies in today's NHL that get leaned on as much Saros is by the Predators. The Jets are up there with Connor Hellebuyck, and the Rangers are as well with Igor Shesterkin. The Flames, who the Predators just beat, lean heavily on Dustin Wolf and the Stars rely heavily on Jake Oettinger.
The difference with a few of those teams is they can overcome the bad goalie starts with plenty of goal support for their netminders, while the Predators usually cannot.
When it comes to the heavy workload early on, that's what stands out. Something that Saros is already accustomed to with already three seasons in his NHL career with 60-plus starts. He's well on his way for another 60-plus startstarts this season, and will come close to his career high of 67 starts set in 2021-22 when he captured third place in the Vezina Trophy voting.
The Predators don't appear to have enough trust in backup Justus Annunen to start him in any situations other than back-to-backs. A lot of teams like to go with a 1A and 1B approach with their goalies, but not the Predators. Saros is their guy, their main weapon to carry them out of the abyss of the Western Conference standings.
Saros has an early lead among NHL goalies in total saves with 294, with the next closest goalie being Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild with 273 in one fewer game.
According to MoneyPuck's analytics, Saros has faced the highest total of Expected Goals Against at 34.76. And again while Saros' save percentage isn't all that impressive, just decent, he is still in the positive in Goals Saved Above Expected at 3.8. That number is going to have to continue to increase all season for the Predators to have any chance to overcome their defeciencies on offense.
Another important factor for Saros and how far he can actually carry the Predators is how strong he'll continue to be when his team is killing penalties. He has a solid .909 save perentage when facing the others team's power play, making 40 saves against 44 shots. That's among the best when you filter out the goalies who have played fewer than six games.
Nashville's penalty kill sits at 6th in the NHL and is a primary reason why they're not completely dead in the water yet with a 5-6-2 record. If their calling card ends up being stout defense, excellent penalty killing while Saros performs at a high level, then just maybe this team has a glimmer of hope.
The unsettling part about this is will Saros be able to hold up for a long and grinding season? Will he hit a slump that proves to be the Predators ultimate undoing? Will the Predators offense finally show improvement to overcome a bad night from their goalie, because the great teams in this league don't always have to have near-perfect goaltending. They can overcome it on the scoreboard with four-plus goals of their own.
Even in the 4-2 win over the last place Flames on Saturday, the Predators put up three early goals but then were held scoreless rest of the way while the Flames made their comeback attempt. The Predators salted the game away with an empty net goal from Filip Forsberg.
Saros is playing well against other team's power play, needs to improve against High Danger shots
Saros held strong in the game with 33 saves, while facing 15 of those in the first period alone. Michael Bunting ended up erupting with three points in the first period, while Matthew Wood continued to trend in the right direction with his 2nd career NHL goal.
The Predators are still searching for more consistent offense from their core of the roster. Steven Stamkos was held scoreless again, but at least Jonathan Marchessault brought some retribution to the power play with his 4th goal of 2025-26.
I still remain undecided on just how far this team can go in 2025-26, but I do have high confidence that my original prognosis before the season even started will end up being true. The team will only go as far as Saros can take them, and he'll have to be on an elite level pretty much every night out.
Has Saros been "elite" through his first 11 games? The save percentage suggests he hasn't quite been on that high of a level, and his high danger save percentage is where he is struggling the most, according to NHL EDGE stats.
Saros has made 75 High Danger saves, which is second-most in the NHL behind Gustavsson. However, Saros' High Danger Save percentage sits at just .798 and 19 of his 31 goals against has been in the High Danger areas.
If Saros can improve just a little bit in the High Danger area then perhaps he can carry the Predators up the standings and into playoff contention.
Expect Saros to get his 12th start of the season on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks as the Predators look to build a winning streak.