The season-opener is just over 48 hours away against the Dallas Stars, and the Nashville Predators didn't bring us any big surprises with their starting lineup.
Despite some prospects making noise in training camp to maybe get a roster spot, the Predators have chosen more with the status quo with their 21-man roster, two short of the maximum allowed.
Due to ongoing personal reasons, Spencer Stastney is designated as non-roster, but is expected to eventually have a strong chance to return as a starter on the NHL lineup.
Former RFAs Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino have made the opening night roster, while Marc Del Gaizo cleared waivers and is widely-considered the next man up among the defensive prospects after Stastney's predicted return.
On paper this is a really high quality roster that can go toe-to-toe with the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche for the division's top spot. A lot of analysts in their season projections stick the Predators comfortably in playoff spot, but behind Dallas and Colorado in their final standings.
Projected NHL Standings — 2024-25 pic.twitter.com/WA0dIzBxnV
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) October 7, 2024
So it turns out most of the offseason lineup projections have come true. It was always expected that Parssinen would be an opening night starter, but there's also a high probability that he may be the extra skater against the Stars on Thursday, giving the nod to Tomasino to get the start at the wing.
There's ongoing confidence through practice rushes that Tomasino might end up on a line with Luke Evangelista and Colton Sissons. That would be an awesome spot for Tomasino to land and that line has promising potential to provide trusted depth scoring.
The top-six was never really that huge of mystery. The top line is staying together from last season with Ryan O'Reilly at center, Filip Forsberg at a wing and Gus Nyquist at the other wing.
The second line is the wildcard with Tommy Novak but he's your most logical choice to open the season with until he proves you otherwise. Then it's back to the drawing board and there will be a lot of debate on how the lines should be shuffled. We'll cross that bridge if and when it comes.
The defensive corps is going with six starting defensemen and no extras. There' maybe a tad bit more speculation on the pairings, but the overall thinking is it will be Roman Josi and Brady Skjei at the top pairings, Alexandre Carrier and Jeremey Lauzon as linemates, and Luke Schenn paired with Dante Fabbro. Or maybe not, because I really don't like that pairing so we'll see if they break up Josi and Skjei.
Overall, it's a lineup that gets you excited and hopeful that the Predators can go far and deep in the playoffs if they stay healthy. The Dallas Stars, a popular Stanley Cup pick, is certainly a difficult test to open things up on Thursday at home.