Revisiting the Biggest Stories for the Nashville Predators in 2023
The new year is here, and the new look Nashville Predators under Andrew Brunette and Barry Trotz's leadership enter 2024 with rejuvenation.
Preds Become Buyers in Free Agency, Add Ryan O'Reilly & Gustav Nyquist
This came as somewhat of a surprise for many in Nashville. The Predators were viewed as a rebuilding team that wouldn't do much in free agency aside from maybe a few depth players.
Instead, Barry Trotz was aggressive in free agency by signing Ryan O'Reilly and Gustav Nyquist. A curveball from Trotz when many figured he'd be conservative in his approach to free agency.
O'Reilly surprised much of the NHL world by choosing Nashville over staying with the hockey mecca of hockey that is the Toronto Maple Leafs. A rebuilding team content with missing the playoffs for a few years doesn't go out and get O'Reilly, and also get Nyquist for that matter.
Trotz also signed both O'Reilly and Nyquist to moderately team friendly deals. These aren't high risk contracts that will hamstring the organization down the road. It's a low-risk, but potentially high-reward pair of acquisitions by Trotz.
In nearly a half of season worth of games, the results speak for themselves that these moves have been beneficial. Both O'Reilly and Nyquist have been great for Filip Forsberg's offensive explosion this season, and Nashville has a reliable and quality top line.
On a smaller note, Trotz didn't stop in free agency with O'Reilly and Nyquist He signed Luke Schenn as well, and later added Denis Gurianov. Schenn has been underwhelming to say the least, and Gurianov has yet to make his NHL season debut but is leading the Milwaukee Admirals in points.
Nashville Doesn't Disappoint as Hosts of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft
For the second time in franchise history, the Nashville Predators hosted the NHL Entry Draft. It was one to remember for many reasons, including Connor Bedard being drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks.
It was a loaded draft class in the first round, and one that was unpredictable for mock drafts. There was no consensus after Bedard. Even the top-5 was unclear.
As for the Predators, they had two first round draft picks and there was speculation they might try to trade up into the top-10. That didn't happen, and instead Trotz stayed put by selecting Matthew Wood and Tanner Molendyk. Both picks were overall well received by NHL scouts.
The Predators went on to make 11 draft selections, which was their most since 2004 in a draft where they selected Pekka Rinne in the 8th Round, and Alexander Radulov in the 1st Round.
Four of the 1st Round selections from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft have already made their NHL debuts; Bedard with 35 games and 32 points, Leo Carlsson for Anaheim with 23 games and 15 points, Adam Fantilli for Columbus with 38 games and 23 points, and Zach Benson for Buffalo with 27 games and 14 points.
John Hynes Fired, Andrew Brunette Hired as Franchise's 4th Head Coach
It was really uncertain what the Predators were going to do with John Hynes after missing the postseason in 2023. When there was the change in general manager from David Poile to Barry Trotz, it became more likely that Hynes would be let go.
Hynes was never really the popular choice from Day 1 when he took over for Peter Laviolette. The team took on the defensive-minded philosophy, and leaned heavily on near perfect goaltending from Juuse Saros on many occassions.
For all of the criticism Hynes received over his Predators tenure, one thing can be said is that he was viewed as a player's coach. He had respect of the locker room, and is a class act in the way he carries himself.
It's always a results oriented business, and the Predators always fell short under Hynes when it came to winning where it counts in the postseason. It made no sense to move on with Hynes after the change in front office leadership. A new, clean slate was required.
Hynes went 134-96-18 as head coach of the Predators in four seasons, but was 3-11 in playoff games including the franchise's first sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche.
Barry Trotz Comes Homes, Smashville Rejoices
This is meant in no way as a slight to David Poile, but it was absolutely time to change the leadership in the front office for the Nashville Predators.
Trotz has always been beloved by this fanbase as the original head coach and the key architect along with Poile to building a perennial playoff team and making hockey work in the South when many predicted it would fail.
It was only fitting that Trotz took over for Poile, and the fanbase got new life after feeling stale and uninspired in the final days of the Hynes era.
There's new hope now, and even as the calender flips to 2024, we still don't know exactly how Trotz will operate as a general manager. We've seen him in his first go-around in offseason free agency, even though techinically he hadn't officially taken over the title yet.
How Trotz will approach the 2024 NHL trade deadline will be very interesting. No one really knows what to expect, especially with a Predators team that has cap space, desirable assets to trade, and they're in the middle of the playoff race approaching the midway point of the regular season.
Filip Forsberg Keeps Breaking Predators Records
For years we've been waiting for Filip Forsberg to take the next level up to NHL elite territory. He's always been good and a respectable NHL winger from his rookie season in 2014-15 when he finished with 63 points and 4th in the Calder Trophy voting.
However, 2023 has really been the year of Forsberg having something to prove. That his 8-year mega deal signed in 2022 wasn't a mistake, and that he does belong on the Predators' Mount Rushmore of players with Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber.
Forsberg already has the franchise all-time goals lead, and keeps padding that record. He's up to 257 career goals, which is 47 past David Legwand in 2nd place. He recently surpassed Legwand on another all-time list with his 10th and 11th overtime goals.
This is the year that Forsberg can say he has arrived into a new stratosphere of NHL wingers. He's currently on pace for 91 points over an 82-game slate. That would come up just shy of Roman Josi's single season record of 96 points.
What is most impressive is this is all coming off a concussion that ended his 2022-23 campaign prematurely in February, and being unclear how much rust would be involved with new linemates and a new head coach.
The Young Guns Give the Preds a lot of Hope for the Future
Predators fans got what they wanted in 2023 in terms of seeing the young talent within the prospect pool get NHL playing time. It didn't exactly come according plan, with injuries really ravaging the Predators to close out the 2022-23 season, but nonetheless the young core of players nearly pushed the Predators into the postseason.
Luke Evangelista leads the list of young players to jump into the NHL mix in 2023 and really show they belong. He made his NHL debut on February 28, 2023 and hasn't looked back. In just his fourth NHL game he recording a two-goal effort against the Vancouver Canucks.
Now 60 games into his NHL career, Evangelista has 32 points overall and looking to stick around in the Calder Trophy conversation as we move into 2024.
Egor Afanasyev also made his NHL debut in 2023 and played in 17 games. Yaroslav Askarov, who just won his first NHL game on Saturday, made his NHL debut in January of 2023 and made 31 saves.
Philip Tomasino, Tommy Novak and Juuso Parssinen all became regular in the starting lineup and showed promising results in their development to the point that they are now NHL regulars.
It was the year of ushering in a new era of Nashville Predators hockey in 2023. The ultimate goal of winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup won't come instantaneously, but the organization does appear to be back on the right path after five years of going in reverse.
Preds Trade the Farm at 2023 Deadline
It was a hard pill to swallow for many Predators fans seeing Tanner Jeannot and Mattias Ekholm traded at the 2023 deadline. It was necessary, but it didn't make it any easier.
The Predators received an enormous haul for Jeannot, and it's a trade that Lightning fans still don't know how to feel about it. Five draft picks went to the Predators for Jeannot, including two picks that were already made in the 2023 draft.
The Ekholm trade brought back Tyson Barrie to the Predators, and the jury is still out on this trade because we don't know what will come in return for Barrie if he's flipped in a trade in 2024 like many expect to happen.
As part of the Ekholm trade the Predators also acquired an additional 2023 first round pick and selected Tanner Molonedyk, who has high reviews from scouts.
The Predators also traded Nino Niederreiter in 2023 and received a 2nd Round pick in 2024. We'll see if that's used as part of a trade package or if the Predators keep the pick.
But wait, the Predators weren't done there. They also moved on from Mikael Granlund, which is widely viewed as a smart trade. The Predators got a 2nd round pick out of that and took Kalan Lind in the 2023 draft.
Matt Duchene Buyout, Ryan Johansen Traded to Avs
You're hard-pressed to top this story for the Predators in 2023. I could've never imagined the Predators choosing to buyout Matt Duchene, a player that just before set the single season franchise goal record.
It showed the desperation of the front office to just move on and wipe their hands clean, but it looks pretty shaky in hindsight with Duchene being a key piece for a Stanley Cup caliber Dallas Stars team.
Ryan Johansen was traded to the Colorado Avalanche, another division foe, and the Predators freed up $4M in cap space that the Avalanche retained. It's not as beneficial as the Duchene addition for Dallas. Johansen has just 14 points in 36 games.
Two very shocking moves by the Predators front office that really completely the full clean house objective that begain with the trade deadline. Now the Predators have the fourth-most projected cap space in the NHL to play around with.