Nashville Predators are Blazing Hot: Four Unsung Heroes
By Chad Minton
Yakov Trenin Found his Game When Win Streak Started
It's no mystery that Yakov Trenin's offensive surge over the past few weeks directly conincides with Nashville's stretch of winning nine of 11 games.
Trenin didn't score his first point of 2023-24 until the begging off all of this, the November 18 win over Chicago when he tallied a goal and an assist. Since then, he has gotten his season total up to six goals and two assists.
It's a contract year for Trenin. He will be a UFA in the offseason of 2024 and it remains very uncertain if he's in the long-term plans for Nashville. You would like to think he his, but it's still a business and it's unclear if General Manager Barry Trotz will be willing to give Trenin the pay raise he'll expect. Or the term for that matter.
If Trenin can keep chipping in valuable minutes to the Predators' bottom-six, then you like his chances of being invested in by the Nashville front office past 2024.
Trenin is a two-way player. He's third on the team in hits with 65 and extremely vital to the Predators' penalty kill which has shown steady improvement after being near the bottom of the league at one point. They went 4-for-4 on kills against one of the best power plays in the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Trenin was a big reason why.
Another stat that stands out for Trenin that's very positive is he has cut back big time on his penalty minutes. Only four penalty minutes after having 47 last season, and 46 the season before. Showing more discipline has been great from him.