If you’re looking for a team to cheer for that flies under the radar ever year because it doesn’t rely on a couple of big superstars, but rather hard work and good coaching, then the Nashville Predators would be my recommendation. Every single year, the experts dismiss them and yet, they just hang around and eventually find themselves in the playoffs.
In doing these previews, we haven’t usually talked about the coaching staff, but the job that Barry Trotz has done since the franchise went into existence in 1998 just can’t be overlooked. There may not be a coach out there right now that can get the most of out their players as well as Trotz can. He doesn’t get the credit that others in the league do, but he’s just as good.
How else do you explain a team finishing 7th in the Western Conference despite the fact that their leading scorers were Patric Hornqvist and Steve Sullivan with 51 points? The team didn’t have a defence corps full of Norris trophy winners or a goaltender that has won multiple Vezinas, so that excuse is out. A team with so little offence shouldn’t be winning enough to be in the playoffs.
The Preds are hoping that they were able to improve their scoring a bit by picking up a couple of cast-offs in Matthew Lombardi and Sergei Kostitsyn. When you’re a team like Nashville that is looking to keep a tradition of playoff appearances, but are lacking funds to make big moves, you have to rely on pickups like this to work out.
Defensively, the Preds took a hit with the loss of Dan Hamhuis in a trade with Philadelphia to pick up Ryan Parent. Their first pairing is still solid with new captain Shea Weber partnered with Ryan Suter, but with the loss of Hamhuis, young guys like Parent, Kevin Klein and Cody Franson will have to step up to take on big responsibilities.
In goal, the Preds 1-2 combination will look different with the departure of Dan Ellis, but Pekka Rinne was able to establish himself as the starter last season, so that won’t be any different. Rinne was able to pick up 32 wins in 54 starts last season with a 2.53 GAA and a 910 save percentage. The Preds are counting on the same kind of performance from Rinne because if not, the Preds could be in trouble having to rely on backup Mark Dekanich or Chet Pickard.
Two players to watch out for in camp are David Legwand and Steve Sullivan. Legwand is expected to be the number one centre for this team, but is coming off a 38 point season for his worst season in 5 years. Is he capable of being a top performer in this league anymore? After having so much trouble with a wonky back two years ago, Sullivan was able to bounce back with a 51 point season last year. Has he gotten past his injury problems or is it a matter of time before he’s back on the shelf again?