The Nashville Predators Fight A Lot, But Aren't Particularly Good At It
It isn't a real problem, but it is a bummer.
The Nashville Predators have never been known as a soft team. They aren't this year by any stretch of the imagination but according to some of the fans, they are not often taking decisions, and have a pretty poor overall fighting record.
The database of aweseomness known as HockeyFights.com has the Predators as having 25 fights so far this year. That's second most in the league behind only the Minnesota Wild.
As a whole, fighting in the league is up. The Predators have proven that they are willing to throw hands when the time calls for it, and even be the aggressors as well. Here's a rundown of who has fought so far, and their 2023-24 records. Spoiler, it isn't going to be good.
Yakon Trenin: 1 Fight, 0-1-0 via HockeyFights.com, Voted 6.03 Rating
We'll start with the now former Nashville Predator. The Yak did attack, but he wasn't terribly effective in his fight. After boarding Jonah Gadjovich, Gadjovich got up and he and Trenin traded punches. Trenin was doing pretty well but had his jersey slid up over his head. Gadjovich kept throwing and looked to be landing continually, which led to voting leaning his way.
Roman Josi : 1 Fight, 0-1-0 via HockeyFights.com, Voted 4.58
The captain got involved in a big scrum against the Detroit Red Wings, which resulted in Josi engaging in fisticuffs with...Alex DeBrincat? Essentially what happened is that Saros gets bumped by JT Compher who ends up in an intense hug wrestling session with Dante Fabbro while Josi grabs DeBrincat, whose lid pops off in the process.
DeBrincat starts running his mouth and Josi laughs and accepts the offer to dance. DeBrincat to his credit gets in close and folds up Josi so he can't move and simply has to eat a few punches before they end up on the ground.
Thankfully Josi isn't risking his hands and chin in fights very often. Though he does have a win over noted rat Brad Marchand.
Kiefer Sherwood: 2 Fights, 0-0-2 Via HockeyFights.com
So Sherwood has had two scraps this season that have gone pretty much the same way. Sherwood jumps a guy in the offensive zone after an offense was committed against a teammate.
Both fights were short with Sherwood throwing and eating punches, and doing his best to continue through falling down. No decisive victories in this one, but Sherwood is a feisty middleweight who you probably don't want to be pissed off at you.
Luke Schenn: 3 Fights, 2-1-0 Via HockeyFights.com
So Schenn is no stranger to fights. Including this year's bouts, he's participated in 84 of them. He's had three so far this season and actually has a winning record (a rarity amongst the Predators) as he's one of the better fighters in the league.
Strong, left-handed, and experienced Schenn is a very tough out for most fighters. He's beaten Marcus Foligno and Josh Anderson and dropped one to Ross Johnstone, who at 6'5" is one of the last remaining heavyweight specialists in the league.
Anderson was Schenn's most recent victim, finding out that Schenn is not the Predator you want to tangle with.
Cole Smith: 4 Fights 2-2-0 Via HockeyFights.com
Smith is not afraid of dropping the gloves. He is also having the best season of his career by far. If he could manage two more fights he would tie his career high. He might have two more in him, but we'll see. He's beaten Adam Erne in a quick fight and edged Zach Bogosian after dropping a Minnesota Wild player with an elbow. He dropped unanimous decisions to Adam Lowry and Austin Watson which are two guys you'd expect to beat Smith.
Tough customer, but his bread and butter is not fighting.
Michael McCarron: 6 Fights, 0-5-1 Via HockeyFights.com
"Big Sexy" is the defacto heavyweight of the team. At 6'6" 232 pounds, McCarron is going to draw the most attention from fellow heavyweights across the league. However, McCarron is having his best season and is devloping into a very effective bottom-6 centerman who can also fight if needed.
McCarron was a first-round draft pick after all. Fighting has never really been his game, more so something he has to do because of his size. Thus it leads to fights with guys like Ross Johnstone, Mark Kastelic, and Tom Wilson.
McCarron's closest thing to a win was against Dennis Gilbert. It was voted a draw but features a showcase of McCarron's best skills as a tough guy.
Jeremy Lauzon: 8 fights, 3-5-0 Via HockeyFights.com
The Predators fight leader and the NHL's hit leader with 313, Lauzon is building a pretty good resume throughout his career. He'll be turning 27 soon and already has 35 fights, and is having his best offensive season this year, while setting a career high in fights.
This year has been up and down in terms of Lauzon's record. He has lost to Adam Lowry, Nikita Zadorov, Nicolas Deslauriers, Nick Foligno, and Jacob Middleton. This season he's got a fight card that looks like a veteran fighter fed to former champions to help boost their records.
Lauzon has fight wins over a big hitter but bad fighter in Radko Gudas, beat up occasional fighter and St. Louis Blues' captain Brayden Schenn, and Sam Carrick, tough guy but not a great fighter.
Lauzon is technically the wins leader on the team, but has a losing record. His willingness and ability are still a good thing though for the Predators.
All in all with a 7-15-3 record the title belts likely aren't going to be marching down Broadway but nobody is going to get away without at least one fist flying at them.