Brady Skjei was added to the Nashville Predators roster after signing a max-term deal of seven years as a free agent. That signing came with a relatively high cap hit of around $7 million AAV. The deal was met with some skepticism early, which only increased when the Predator's season crumbled early into play.
General Manager Barry Trotz had a much quieter offseason this year. Making only one notable free agent signing in Nick Perbix, a 6'4" right-handed defender. The 27-year-old previously played with the Tampa Bay Lightning for 3 seasons, appearing in 220 career games.
This added valuable experience to the D-core and an option for a new partner for Brady Skjei. After a few games together, the results have looked good with the pair outscoring the opposition six to three in almost 79 minutes together.
Nick Perbix has seen the most success on the score sheet so far, with two goals and three points in the first five games. With a career average 82 game point pace of 24, he's sitting at 49 right now. The points will likely slow down, but it's great to see a free agent addition gaining confidence early on.
Brady Skjei, however, has been snake-bitten points-wise early on, despite looking better in his almost 23 minutes per game. Having yet to find the back of the net, he has only one assist in five games.
That point production will have to increase, and it likely will if he can increase his IPP or Individual points percentage, which is a measurement of the percentage of goals he factors into that are scored during his ice time. Last year, Skjei averaged 45.2% IPP with the Preds; this year, he sits at 16.7%.
Conversely, Nick Perbix has a slightly high IPP percentage at 42.9% after averaging 37.5% in his career. So again, a dip in production could be coming for him, but an increase in Skjeis' will help fill in with this pair's point totals.
The pairing is also getting outshot 32-46, an issue that hasn't affected their plus-minus category as much as it could have if it weren't for stellar play in net by Juuse Saros so far this year. Hopefully, with more developed chemistry, the pair can turn that around to continue outscoring opponents.
With a 2-1-2 record to open Nashville's season, there is still a lot of work to do on the ice. After the nightmare that was last season, however, especially for notable free agents like Skjei, it's good to recognize early positives. A possible dependable top 4 right-handed option in Nick Perbix to help fix the second pair with Skjei is among the most positive by far.