We are only a month out from this nightmare season ending for the Nashville Predators, one that truly cannot end fast enough. What was supposed to be a watershed season for the team has seen nearly everything go wrong, from underperformances, to injuries, to missed opportunities, and pretty much every bad thing you can think of.
Pretty much everyone on the team is having a down year, as you can hardly look to anyone, new or returning, who is playing better than they did last year. That also includes veterans and youngsters, and the youngsters are especially the ones who have had it worst, for reasons in and out of their control.
We have seen Cody Glass, Philip Tomasino, Jusso Parssinen, and Dante Fabbro all leave the Predators since August, which has obviously been super disappointing. It is too early to say definitively yet, but it looks like another once promising young guy might have the same thing happen to him if things do not turn around.
Luke Evangelista might be riding the pine with the Nashville Predators
Luke Evangelista joined the Predators towards the end of the 2022-23 season, and when he came in, the hype around him looked to be real. Sentiments were same during the 2023-24 season as well, as he recorded 39 points in 82 games, and many thought he could take an even bigger step forward this year.
Simply put, that has not happened, as he has recorded a meager 19 points in 53 games, and only one non empty net goal since the turn of the new calendar year. Base statistics are far from the whole picture, but those numbers are alarming, as he has not showcased the playmaking abilities we know are his strongsuit.
Maybe more concerning than his goals and assists is his physical game, as especially recently, he has gotten taken off of the puck quite easily. Whether that is poorly taking the body or losing puck battles, he has really struggled in that regard.
Even for a guy who will never be known for being a super physical player, that is a bad sign considering he has played over two years in the NHL.
What is also tough is that he was recently put in the top six, on a line alongside Ryan O'Reilly and Steven Stamkos, and looked pretty good actually. But the lines predictably went back into the blender on the recent California road trip, and Evangelista was scratched in Los Angeles, presumably due to his physical weaknesses and that they were playing a fairly defensive, physical team.
You would be lying to yourself if you were not at least a little bit concerned that Evangelista will not pan out, but here is the thing, we have seen this story play out before. So many young, once promising Predators have gone elsewhere and performed well, almost immediately too.
These are not isolated situations, they are part of a much bigger problem on this team, which is that they have almost always failed to develop forwards. Chances are that if Evangelista were to be traded or waived, he would go somehwere else and also perform well, given that we have seen his talent and the clear trend associated with the Predators.
They have to do everything they can to work it out with him, he is too talented and promising to give up for scraps, if anything, they need to evaluate their approach and see what they can do differently. If the Predators do not make some significant changes, they could be in the middle of yet another self inflicted, embarrassing situation.