This Predators organization looked to be on the rise and into respectability with a few playoff appearances. After they had quick eliminations the Predators have struggled and missed the playoffs last season by three points. Luckily, the Predators still have Barry Trotz the teams’ first ever coach, and he could’ve walked a long time ago, but has stuck with this club and he has yet to be rewarded with a solid group. Trotz could only do so much, and the main problem last season was defense.
Yeah the Predators do have Shea Weber and Dan Hamhuis, who are two studs on defense. Both can score, hit, fight and play a smart game. For Weber last season was his coming out party with 23 goals and 30 assists, and that was good enough to finish third in team scoring. Weber also earned a spot in Team Canada’s training camp for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Hamhuis is more of a stay at home defensemen, and will jump into the rush a few times.
Beyond those two, the Predators are thin on defense with a relatively young and inexperienced blue line, which should’ve been worked on over the summer. I guess that’s what happens when you work in a hockey market where cowboy hats and lasso’s generate more revenue than a hockey franchise, you don’t feel like working. That will result in another playoff-less season for the Predators.
The Predators have three other defensemen listed on their depth charts, Kevin Klein, 24, Alexander Sulzer, 25, and Ryan Suter, 24. Suter is the only player to have played all 82 games last season with the Predators, and compare that to Klein who has played in 81 games over the past four seasons, and Sulzer has only played in two career games. The only player out of these three who has shown some promise is Suter, who scored 45 points last season.
With that, it looks like defense may be a problem again for the Predators, unless the latter three mentioned play like Weber and Hamhuis.
The problem didn’t end there, it continued on with goaltending, as the Predators are lost in that position since they let go of Tomas Vokoun. The two goaltenders that have replaced him are Pekka Rinne who has shown he is a formidable replacement. He was one win shy of thirty victories, and had a 2.38 GAA with .917 save percentage. His back-up is Dan Ellis, who struggled last season, and that could’ve been the downfall of the Predators, as Ellis won just eleven games and lost 23 games. So, Rinne has shown he can play, but he has to show he can repeat the success he had last season, and if he can, then the Predators will be in much better shape to qualify for the playoffs.
Now offense, a category in which the Predators really stunk in, as their 213 goals ranked in the bottom five in the West. The Predators really don’t have a go to goal scorer or a playmaker. They are full of veterans who can still score, such as Jason Arnott the team’s captain, who scored 33 goals and finished second in team scoring. Finishing first was JP Dumont with 65 points, who can still make some solid plays and dish out the assists. Steve Sullivan looks fully recovered from a serious back injury that kept him out of the game for more than a year. In the 41 games he got into last season, he still scored 32 points. After that, the Predators have a lot of middle of the pack scorers.
Martin Erat and David Legwand can still score goals, and both can average twenty goals a piece. Joel Ward is one player on the Predators roster that is on the rise, and is considered a late bloomer as he has excelled at the age of 28. Last season he finally got to play a full season in the NHL, and didn’t upset with 17 goals. Marcel Goc a new addition to the club is a speedy player and will be excellent on a fourth line. Antti Philstrom has had great success overseas and has shown he can play on a global stage as well with Team Sweden. He always turned heads while playing with Team Sweden. Who knows if Alex Radulov is coming back to the Predators as he signed an illegal contract with a franchise in the KHL. If he does decide to come back to the NHL, he will really help the Predators.
OVERALL--> THE PREDATORS HAVE AN OKAY TEAM, AND THEIR OFFENSE REALLY ISN’T THAT EXPLOSIVE. THERE ISN’T A GO TO LINE EITHER ON THIS SQUAD. THE GOALTENDING IS STILL UNPROVEN AND THE DEFENSE HAS ONE SOLID DEFENSIVE PAIR IN SHEA WEBER AND DAN HAMHUIS.
POSITIVE--> SHEA WEBER AND DAN HAMHUIS ON DEFENSE ARE ONE OF THE BEST PAIRS IN THE NHL, AND THE SMART VETERANS THEY HAVE ON OFFENSE.
NEGATIVE--> THIS PREDATORS TEAM IS STILL INCOMPLETE, THE DEFENSE ISN’T EVEN FILLED, AND THE DEPTH CHART DOESN’T EVEN HAVE SIX DEFENSEMEN LISTED.
X-FACTOR--> HEAD COACH BARRY TROTZ HAS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS TEAM AND PUSH THEM TO ANOTHER LEVEL. AGAIN, THE DEFENSIVE PAIR OF WEBER AND HAMHUIS ARE TOO VALUABLE TO THIS FRANCHISE AND WILL HAVE TO LEAD THIS TEAM.
SLEEPER PICK--> RYAN SUTER SHOULD HAVE A GOOD DEFENSIVE SEASON, AS WE ALL KNOW HE CAN SCORE.
PREDICTION--> THE NASHVILLE PREDATORS WILL WIN 38-41 GAMES AND MIGHT COMPETE FOR A PLAYOFF SPOT.
The opinions and thoughts expressed in this or any other article written by 12nadnuk are of his thinking and what he thinks is correct or close to it in the sporting world. If there are any problems by anyone, 12nadnuk is open for rebuttal and what not, and honest criticism. There is also a comments section, so feel free to post what is on your mind about the article. Thank you for reading.
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