Nashville Predators do it against all odds
Since the lock-out the Nashville Predators have only missed the post-season once, all while having one of the League’s lowest salary caps.
Last season the Preds met the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round and were bounced from the play-offs by the eventual Cup Champions. Nashville has been a successful regular season club, but has yet to make a deep push into the post-season.
The 2010-11 version of the Predators looks very similar to that of the 2009-10 version, nevertheless general manager David Poile believes his club has what it takes to challenge for the Stanley Cup.
Roster Changes
Most notably the Predators traded long-time captain Jason Arnott to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for youngster Matt Halischuk. Poile also brought in former Phoenix Coyote centre Matthew Lombardi, and Montreal Canadiens forward Sergei Kostitsyn.
The club also did not bring back stay-at-home defenceman Dan Hamhuis and instead elected to trade for former first round pick Ryan Parent.
Forward
Upfront the Predators will be led by newly acquired Lombardi, and wingers Patric Hornqvist, and veteran Steve Sullivan.
The second line will be formed with long-time Predator David Legwand at centre, flanked by Martin Erat, and the underrated J.P. Dumont.
On the third line Poile will give a couple of youngsters a chance to impress next season, as German born Marcel Goc centres, Joel Ward, and Colin Wilson. One can expect Wilson to take over the centre duties if he has a strong start to the year.
The fourth line will likely not be decided until after camp, nevertheless tough guy Wade Belak looks to have booked a spot on the grinder line, along with super-pest Jordin Tootoo.
Defence
The Predators are known for their defensive style of hockey, championed by Coach Barry Trotz. Trotz manages to get the best out of his defenders every year, and next year’s campaign should be no different.
With-that-said you would have a hard time finding a better first pairing than the Predators Ryan Suter and Shea Weber, who is set to take over as the team’s fifth captain.
The Second unit will house Francis Bouillon, and Kevin Klein, while the third pairing has not been agreed upon, but will certainly feature Parent.
Goalie
Once again starting in goal for the Predators is the reliable Pekka Rinne. Rinne should log close to 70 games this season, and is certainly an all-star candidate. Poile has stated that he plans on giving one of his prospects a chance at backing up Rinne next season. It is likely that first round draft pick Chet Pickard will spend the year in the American Hockey League, while Mark Dekanich, and Andres Lindback battle for the back-up spot in camp.
Can the Predators get to the Conference Finals?
The Predators never look to have a particularly strong line-up. Nevertheless the team comes together and plays an incredibly successful style of defensive hockey. Last season the team’s top scorers were Hornqvist and Sullivan with only 51 points. Poile is hoping that Lombardi may be able to bring more speed and urgency to the Preds’ top line.
On defence Nashville still has some holes to fill, however their number one job will be keeping the puck out of Rinne’s net. The six man unit should be fairly successful, while Weber and Suter continue to progress into generational talents on the blue line.
In net it does not get much better than Rinne. Nashville has always been a goaltending factory, and this year fans will get a look at another goalie of the future, as the team tests its back-ups.
In the end one can expect Nashville to make the post-season, however they still do not have the firepower and depth to make a real push into the play-offs. On paper they are simply not as impressive as the Western Conferences big guns.
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