Nashville Predators Clinch 16th Playoff Berth: 3 Reasons They're Playoff Bound

In a furious 3rd period comeback, or relentless as they like to say, the Nashville Predators officially punched their ticket to the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Predators were stunned by the Jets in the first period giving up three quick goals and falling behind 3-1. The game was in danger of falling out of reach quickly, and the Predators having to wait at least one more day to officially clinch a playoff berth.

The slogan for this team since the 18-game point streak began and now is plastered everywhere is "relentless", and that's exactly how you should characterize the second and third periods.

The Predators wouldn't stop coming at the Jets in the second period, but a locked-in Connor Hellebuyck was doing his best Vezina Trophy performance for the voters and it appeared that Nashville was about to be victims of near-perfect goaltending.

Over seven minutes into the third period, the Predators were still grinding away trying to at least get one back and make it interesting. Team like to pull their goalie when they're down two goals right around the time when Spencer Stastney was able to get in close on Hellebuyck and score his second career NHL goal.

The Predators went on to lose in overtime to the Jets, but managing the point was obviously the biggest obective. Now the team can focus on resting some players who might be dinged up and finetuning some parts of their game that will need to be better to win a seven-game series.

Let's look at my three main reasons why the Nashville Predators are way ahead of the schedule in year 1 of Andrew Brunette.

Tremendous Coaching Job from Andrew Brunette

This season could've gone south real fast after the 9-2 beatdown to the Dallas Stars right before the point streak began. Truth is, if the Predators missed the playoffs in 2024, no one would have really batted an eye. The primary objective was seeing growth and improvement from the younger players and building something for the future.

Then the 18-game point streak happened, and fans and analysts alike suddenly changed their tune and realize this team actually has a unique balance of raw talent and veteran leadership.

Brunette managed this team so effectively as the head coach, and not just because of the cancelled U2 concert in Las Vegas. He held his players accountable. Earlier in the season he wasn't afraid to make unpopular healthy scratches to send a message or to give a younger player time to reset before their confidence was shattered.

However, once the chemistry started being built past the midway point of the season, Brunette was careful not to mess with the line combinations too much. He identified his top line of Ryan O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Gus Nyquist very early on and wisely never went away from it.

Nashville's top line has the second-most minutes together in the NHL this season, only trailing the New Yorks Rangers' top line of Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenire. Nearly 750 minutes of time on ice together for Nashville's top line, and that will be so valuable heading into the playoffs.

Brunette also usually keeps his poise throughout a game, even when an awful call goes his way. Sure, isn't shy about voicing his displeasure, but his calm collectiveness in pressure situations resonates with the players.

Finally, I've really appreciated Brunette's honesty when evaluating players and the game performances. If the team played awful or showed really bad effort, he wasn't going to sugarcoat anything. Players respond to a head coach who holds them accountable.

All I know is the New Jersey Devils, who went through a head coaching change this season and are the NHL's most disappointing team of 2023-24, are kicking themselves for not making Brunette their head coach when they had the chance.

Reliable Depth that Can Compete in the Playoffs

You cannot be top heavy if you're going to have any success once you get into the playoffs. It's a grueling journey to even qualify, much less to win the 16 games necessary to hoist the Stanley Cup.

The Predators have the playoff depth to wear down opponents in a seven-game series. They can trade blows, and they can make multi-goal comebacks thanks to their bottom six workhorses like Kiefer Sherwood, Cole Smith and Michael McCarron, who are now up to 240 minutes of time on ice together as a line.

In the previous slide I mentioned Brunette's wise decision to stick with line combos, and this fourth line is no different. All three players on this line have set career highs in points, and they often open the game for Nashville as the tone setters.

It goes deeper than that, however. Let's take a guy like Mark Jankowski. No one could've expected Jankowski to be playing meaningful second line minutes this late in the season with the playoffs still on the line.

The younger players also factor into that depth. Luke Evangelista is playing some of the best hockey in his still very young NHL career. He just hit the 100-game milestone, and was the main catalyst that drove the offense against the Jets even though he didn't score a goal.

Then you shift to the defensive corps, which is also the deepest I've seen it since the 2018 Presidents Trophy season. Jeremy Lauzon is arguably the most improved player on the Predators this season and will be a force in the postseason.

Also, as much criticism as he gets, don't overlook the value that Luke Schenn will bring as a third pairing enforcer. He has 42 games of playoff experience on championship level teams.

The Predators have the depth to wear down anyone in a seven-game series.