Nashville Predators Sit in Wildcard Spot at Midway Point: Team Awards

Whether you look at the glass half full or half empty, the Nashville Predators clearly need to find more consistency if they're going to remain in a wildcard spot at season's end.

The Predators are now at the halfway point of their 2023-24 campaign, but not before a major letdown performance against the Anaheim Ducks, one of the bottom teams in the Western Conference.

It's very alarming to see a team flip from their most impressive win of the season over the Dallas Stars only to turn in a dud like this one against the Ducks. With the loss, the Predators fall to 22-18-1 and just one point better than where they were at this time last season.

Let's start with the player awards through the first 41 games for the Nashville Predators.

Team MVP: Filip Forsberg

Easy choice here for the Predators' MVP through the first half of the season. If Forsberg opens the first half of this season rusty, which easily could've been the case after coming off a concussion suffered in February, then this team is down towards the bottom of the standings.

Forsberg has shown up when it counts in critical situations. He's playing with a confidence and poise that I've never seen him play at for this long of a stretch, other than in 2021-22. He has a great chance to surpass those career high totals if he keeps up his current pace.

You saw what happens when Forsberg is held in check, which is rare this season. In Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Ducks, Forsberg was held without a point, but did have five shots on goal. You take away that threat, and the Predators couldn't find their depth scoring until it was too late for a comeback.

Forsberg has 45 points in 41 games. He has already passed his 42-point total from last season when he only appeared in 50 games before being lost for the season with the concussion.

I would have the Predators pegged as a team destined for a lottery pick if Forsberg wasn't on this team. There are fans who wish that were the case to fuel the rebuild even further, but for now, Forsberg's elite level of play will keep the Predators interesting in the second half.

Most Improved: Gustav Nyquist

I have been pleasantly surprised by how big of an impact Gus Nyquist has made on the Predators in the first half. He was a pretty underwhelming free agency pickup in the 2023 offseason, and at most he was a second line fill-in.

Not only has Nyquist overcame those expectations so far, but he has been the final piece to a Predators top line that's very reliable with Ryan O'Reilly at center and Forsberg at wing. That third spot with O'Reilly ad Forsberg was up in the air in training camp.

Nyquist has already cruised past his point total from last season in a broken up year playing mostly for Columbus, but appearing in three games for Minnesota as well. He had just 27 points as an aging veteran viewed as being well past his prime.

At age 34, Nyquist is on pace to set a new career high in points for a season. Pretty remarkable achievement as he approaches 800 games in the NHL, which he should reach next season if he's able to stay healthy.

Nyquist is third on the Predators in assists and points, and fourth in goals and shots on goal. If the Predators can sneak into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Nyquist will be a major reason why and will be vital to winning a first round series.

Best Defender: Ryan McDonagh

Overall the Predators defense hasn't been up to par for me. They're wildly inconsistent, but do sometimes show flashes of being a great strength. Other times, they're carved up and exposes for lack of structure and speed.

It was close between either Ryan McDonagh or Alexandre Carrier for this midseason award, but I'm going with McDonagh because of his on-ice leadership and being better at limiting getting caught out of position.

I'm also overlooking Josi for this award because he primarily does his damage offensively, and far too many times he's been caught in bad situations when getting back on defense.

The McDonagh and Carrier defensive pairing is 14th in the NHL in Expected Goals Against per 60, which is much better than Josi's pairing with Dante Fabbro, which is 60th in this category.

McDonagh does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score. Many times he's the lone guy throwing his body on the line when things have broken down.

Furthermore, McDonagh is heavily leaned on to lead the defense even more so than Josi, who is out there to provide more offense. McDonagh only trails Josi for average ice time among Predators skaters.

You can present an argument to have Josi for this award purely based on offensive production, or Carrier because he has more blocks and hits than McDonagh, but I'm also going with my eye test here and sticking with McDonagh.

Biggest Surprise Player: Michael McCarron

I had very little confidence that Michael McCarron was going to be an everyday starter for the Predators in 2023-24 after moving on from John Hynes.

After beginning the season on the roster out of training camp, McCarron wasn't getting regular starts. However, since mid November McCarron has been a regular in the starting lineup and even has six goals, just one shy of his NHL career high.

Now we can debate whether or not there are better options in Milwaukee to replace McCarron with, but I have him as my biggest surprise simply because he's already played in 31 of the 41 games. I didn't see that coming, but credit to him for impressing coaches enough to not be benched.

McCarron is a hard-working and prototypical fourth line grinder. He's a massive physical presence who flashes some occasional offense, a strong locker room presence and provides some defense as well with 23 blocks and 53 hits.

I don't see McCarron being taken out of the lineup anytime soon because he can play both center and wing and the coaches love him on that fourth line.