Nashville Predators Christmas Wish List for 2024: Barrie, Forsberg, Sissons, Brunette

The Predators enter the short holiday break in the top wildcard spot. Here's the Christmas wish list for some players going into 2024.

Dec 23, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Colton Sissons (10)
Dec 23, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Colton Sissons (10) / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
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Even though we're going into the Christmas break on a sour note after that late game historic collapse against the Dallas Stars, the Nashville Predators are still performing ahead of schedule.

The Predators do have some lineup questions after the NHL's roster freeze is lifted first thing on December 28. Once that happens, the NHL trade deadline will be just over two months away. A lot of games left to impact the decision making around that.

With that, let's choose some gifts for a few Nashville Predators players and for Head Coach Andrew Brunette as we're about to flip into 2024 and reach the midway point of the regular season.

Dec 15, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA;  Nashville Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie (22)
Dec 15, 2023; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Nashville Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie (22) / James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

1. Tyson Barrie Finds a New Team & Dante Fabbro Becomes Regular Starter Again

This gift is for both sides, but Tyson Barrie deserves a new slate somewhere else. He has a lot to give for a team that needs him, but that team isn't the Predators who have a plethora of NHL worthy defenseman who need playing time.

Barrie is taking away starts from Dante Fabrro, who was healthy scratched in the loss to the Stars and has missed nine of the Predators' 34 games. Barrie has missed only four.

I'm sure Barrie wants to get this behind him and find a playoff contending team. It can't be easy hanging over your head playing for a team that's almost certainly not in your long-term, or even short-term future.

As for Fabbro, he's the third-best defenseman the Predators have in my humble opinion, only behind Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh. It's a travesty that he's getting the healthy scratches when he's actually the player that has a much higher chance of benefiting your push for the postseason and beyond in 2024.

I realize it's hard to bench Barrie when you're trying to trade him, and that's the conundrum we find ourselves in. Barry Trotz might have to cave a little and take what he can get for Barrie just to move on.

So my Christmas wish list for Barrie is to find a new team that needs him, and for Fabbro to get back to being a regular starter, preferably on Josi's top pairing.

Tyson Barrie: A New Team that Needs Him More than the Preds

Dante Fabbro: Back to Being a Regular Starter, Get Top Line Minutes with Josi

2. Forsberg Breaks Duchene's Single Season Franchise Goal Record

2022 NHL Global Series Challenge Switzerland - Nashville Predators v SC Bern
2022 NHL Global Series Challenge Switzerland - Nashville Predators v SC Bern / Eurasia Sport Images/GettyImages

This isn't a slight at Matt Duchene at all, but I don't want to see him have that single season goal record for the Predators anymore. He doesn't feel like a franchise player that should have that record.

Filip Forsberg, who went toe-to-toe with Duchene in that race to break Viktor Arvidsson's record in 2021-22, has a decent chance at breaking Duchene's record of 43 goals. However, he will have to pick up the pace slightly.

Forsberg is on an 82-game pace to finish around 39 goals. He has cooled off a bit lately in the goal scoring department, but we all know he can go on another hot streak quickly. And he just narrowly missed putting the Stars away for good but hit the post in the final moments.

With 255 career goals, Forsberg keeps padding his lead on the Predators' all-time list. Now he needs the single season record. That's my Christmas wish for Forsberg in 2024.

Filip Forsberg: Breaks Duchene's Single Season Goal Record of 43

3. Juuse Saros Gets Clarity on his Future with Nashville

Nashville Predators v Edmonton Oilers
Nashville Predators v Edmonton Oilers / Lawrence Scott/GettyImages

The trade rumors for Juuse Saros aren't going anywhere because teams are always going to be desperate for better goaltending, and Saros is a UFA in 2025. Until the Predators sign him to a contract extension, the trade buzz speculation will keep churning around Juice.

I'm sure Trotz behind closed doors is already thinking about how he's going to work out a deal to keep Saros in Nashville for the foreseeable future. He knows it's going to take a big increase in pay, but you just can't let your franchie goalie walk for nothing.

So if Trotz isn't going to trade Saros in 2024, then the only other option is to re-sign him. And if that's the ultimate, it needs to get done at some point in the 2024 offseason. You definitely don't want to go into 2024-25 with this speculation still hanging over Saros.

There is an outside chance that Trotz is playing the long game into 2025 before he considers pulling the trigger on trading Saros before he actually hits free agency. That would really string this out longer than anyone probably wants.

Saros just recently moved into second place on the franchise list past Tomas Vokoun for wins with 162. He's at a very similar pace to Pekka Rinne's pace of wins. Rinne has 369.

Juuse Saros: Clarity on his Future with Nashville by Getting a Contract Extension Before 2024-25

4. Colton Sissons Sets a Career High in Points for a Season

Nashville Predators v Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators v Montreal Canadiens / Minas Panagiotakis/GettyImages

Sissons is top-20 in Predators history for goals with 84, which ties him with Matt Duchene. Obviously in much more games than Duchene, but Sissons is the lifelong member of the Nashville Predators and it's cool to see him having this little offensive outburst in his 10th NHL season.

Look no further than Sissons' Points Per 60 Minutes to see how he's crushing his previous offensive outputs in his NHL career. Sissons is right at two points per 60 minutes, with his previous career high being 1.5 per 60 in 2018-19.

Sissons has also doubled his goals per 60 based on his first nine years of his NHL career. Much of this is due to Andrew Brunette's offensive philosophy and Sissons getting new opportunities to show some offense that he didn't get under previous head coach John Hynes.

So my Christmas wish for Sissons is to break his career high in points which is 30 points set twice. He's already at 19 points and has played in all 34 games. He played in all 82 games last season. He's just a workhorse, and it's awesome to see him getting in on the offense more so than ever this late in his career.

Sissons (184 career points) has some work to do to move up the Predators all-time point list, with Duchene up next at 197, Calle Jarnkrok at 211 and Patric Hornqvist at 216. Sissons sits 25th all time Predators history.

Colton Sissons: Sets a New Career High in Points in his 10th NHL Season

5. Andrew Brunette Wins 1st Jack Adams Award in Preds History

Hard to believe that Barry Trotz never won a Jack Adams award for the Predators in his He coached the Predators through the difficult expansion years and got them to 100 plus point seasons four times, the first coming in Year 7.

Andrew Brunette has a decent chance to be in the running for the Jack Adams Award for best NHL head coach if he get the Predators to the postseason. Being a first year head coach with this franchise and taking them immediately to the playoffs after missing the year before would be quite the accomplishment.

Usually you have to coach your team at least to 100 points in the standings to get the award. The last head coach to finish short of 100 points and win the award was Bob Hartley for the Calgary Flames in 2015. That team finished with 97 points.

If the Predators make the postseason and come up close to 100 points, there's going to be a lot of people voting for Brunette for the Jack Adams. It would be an awesome story for the franchise to get their first.

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