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.
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.
This is a great point. We're also so surprised why Dante Fabbro from the Nashville Predators was only a healthy scratch in some games already. Fabbro is, without a doubt, better defenseman than Luke Schenn, Jeremy Lauzon or Tyson Barrie. https://t.co/dIEhXX0uvv pic.twitter.com/SV6uarFwxk
— Andy & Rono (@ARHockeyStats) December 21, 2023
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
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
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.
Juuse Saros backstopped the @PredsNHL to victory with his 15th win of the season, trailing only Thatcher Demko (16) for the most among all goaltenders.#NHLStats: https://t.co/mWXQKIDH5k pic.twitter.com/CaBvAHHruh
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 22, 2023
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
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.