In Part 1 of our series covering every team MVP for the Nashville Predators throughout their 27 year history, We went through the difficult expansion years up to When this team finally broke into the playoffs with the superstar and future Hall of Famer by the name of Paul Kariya.
But now The Predators were starting to build a legitimate supporting cast unlike what they had in the early years. So choosing the MVP's and part two of this four part series is probably going to be a little bit more tricky.
The Nashville Predators build a deeper roster and find their future franchise goalie
2007-08:
We pick it back up at the 2007-08 season. The Predators just had a 110-point season and lost to the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs in six games.
The Paul Kariya era was over after two seasons, but his impact was all about launching this franchise into crawling out of the darkness and into the bright lights of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jason Arnott was the next superstar veteran to join Nashville after already making a name for himself elsewhere. Arnott would tie with Dumont for the team lead in points this season with 72. Arnott's plus/minus was significantly better at a plus-19, with Dumont at plus-5.
Alexander Radulov was the energetic, young Russian phenom who got fans pumped up with his bug time goals and celebrations. He would score 28 goals and total 58 points at age 21.
Shea Weber and Ryan Suter were still youngsters, but they were the new dynamic duo on the Preds blueline.
This season by far Is the most difficult so far to pick a team MVP for the Preds, but my choice is Jason Arnott because of his leadership qualities that season, Leading the team in points alongside J.P. Dumont, chipping in 13 power play goals, while also having a major presence in the faceoff circle.
2008-09:
Another year of Arnott and Dumont at the top of the team for points, while overall the Preds went continued to go backwards from 91 points to a disappointing 88 points and missing the playoffs. The team finished 24th in the NHL in goal scoring.
Arnott was team captain again, but Dumont led the team in points with 65, 49 of those being assists.
Weber is going to come close to claiming team MVP for this down year for the Preds as he was ascending into one of the NHL's best young defenseman, impressively putting up 53 points and 192 hits while piling up a grinding 23:58 of average ice time. Ryan Suter was close behind his fellow blueliner.
Not to be overlooked , Pekka Rinne had a MVP caliber season, too. He would put up a staunch .917 save percentage behind his 2.38 GAA. It's a close call between Rinne and Weber, but my personal bias is always going to go for the goalie. So it's Rinne.
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