In my first edition of this year's elimination evals, we have the Nashville Predators who were swept by the Colorado Avalanche after Monday Night’s 5-3 loss. There isn’t much to be surprised about here as the Colorado Avalanche were simply a much stronger, more complete hockey club. Pretty much from the get go this season, the Avalanche proved they meant business this year, quickly establishing themselves as one of, if not the best team in the league. For Nashville, their chances of upsetting the Avalanche were slim and grew even slimmer with the injury of Juuse Saros. Saros, who is a Vezina Trophy Candidate this season, missed the final two games of the regular season with a lower body injury that kept him out for what would be the entirety of the Predators postseason run.
The injury left David Rittich to take the net for Nashville who quickly lost the job to Connor Ingram. Ingram did a great job for Nashville and even took the Avalanche to overtime in game two. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as Colorado put up seven goals the next game and five in game four. Had Nashville been able to come out with a win in that game two overtime, they could have built some momentum to keep up with Colorado. However, the fact that they dropped that one and followed it up with a 7-3 loss pretty much killed their chances at getting anything going. They were out-shot in every game, couldn’t get the upper-hand in special teams and just couldn’t catch a break against the powerhouse that is the Avalanche.
So, what went wrong for Nashville? It’s hard to really say aside from the fact that Colorado is just the better team. The Predators are tied with the Capitals for the second longest playoff streak in the league, making the playoffs every year for the last eight seasons. In that span, they have gone from a fringe team, to hopefully contender, to losing in the Stanley Cup Final and now seem to be heading back in the direction of being a fringe team. This team may not have the core that got them to the Cup Final back in 2017, but they do have the pieces to build around. By no means does this team need to go off and have a yard sale and start rebuilding, but it might be time to start re-tooling around the new core and perhaps move on from some familiar faces.
Juuse Saros is without a doubt the kind of goaltender you want to have at the backbone of your team. David Rittich will be an unrestricted free agent this off-season and with Connor Ingram proving himself at the NHL level during these playoffs, it is very likely David Poile will let Rittich walk and roll with Ingram as the team’s number two next season. From there, the Preds have their captain and likely Norris Trophy winner in Roman Josi leading the way on the back end. In addition to Josi, they will still have Phillipe Myers, Dante Fabbro, Mathias Ekholm, Alexandre Carrier and Mark Borowiecki returning next season. You have to think that alone could easily be five of your everyday six defensemen for next season with Borowiecki being the seventh defender. If the Preds bolster their back end with one more solid defenseman, they should be in a good place on that front.
Offensively, they’re going to take a huge hit if they are unable to re-sign Filip Forsberg or decide to move on from him entirely. Forsberg was acquired by the Preds back in 2013 in a trade with the Washington Capitals for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Forsberg will be 28 this summer and will likely look for a pay raise that locks him up for the majority of his remaining career. The Predators should have plenty of cap space to make a long term deal work but you have to wonder just how much Nashville is willing to spend. If I’m David Poille, if I can keep Forsberg here for the next seven or eight years on an AAV that’s under 8, 8.5 million max? You have to think about locking him up. If Nashville does indeed want to move on from some familiar faces and clear up cap space in the process, they have about $16,000,000 wrapped up in Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen for the next 3-4 years. With Duchene having the big year he did and Johanson still contributing, it’s less likely they explore these options but something to think about nonetheless.
Aside from Forsberg and Rittich, the Preds have Nick Cousins, Rocco Grimaldi, Matthew Benning, Ben Harpur and Alex Biega as pending UFA’s. It’s safe to assume that Forsberg will be the only name they attempt to bring back as it makes sense to let the rest of them walk. Cody Glass, Luke Kunin, Yakov Trenin, Jeremy Lauzon and 22-year-old defenseman David Farrance are among the key RFA’s Nashville will look to get under new contracts. Farrance could have the potential to make the team if they don’t find an option in free agency, but would likely benefit from another year in the minors. Assuming Poile gets all his RFA’s under contract and is able to keep Forsberg, this is what Nashville is working with going into next season:
Kunin - Duchene - Granlund
Forsberg - Johansen - Tomasino
Tolvanen - Trenin - Jeannot
Open spot - Glass - Sissons
Josi - Fabbro
Ekholm - Carrier
Open spot - Myers
Borowiecki
Jaros - Ingram
That alone isn’t a bad group to run back with next season, but there is certainly room for improvement. The Predators should look to bring in a top six defender, ideally someone who could bounce between the second and third pair. For the forwards, they’re pretty set with the top nine group but if they can bring in a seasoned vet to play the wing somewhere in the middle six, first line in a pinch, that would definitely benefit them if they want to keep the playoff streak alive. Depth both at the forward and defense position is never a bad idea and will likely be on the team's shopping list this summer. If they bring in another forward, Jeannot, Trenin and Sissons can be a real dangerous fourth line that can be rolled just as frequently as any other.
Overall, I wouldn't say this season was a disappointment for Nashville but definitely a slight step back. However, with the right off-season, Nashville has a great opportunity to take forward strides to get back into the playoff picture and perhaps go a bit further than they did this season. They’ll need some younger guys like Eeli Tolvanen, Cody Glass, Philip Tomasino and Philip Myers to take those next steps but as long as the team keeps progressing the way they should, they’re headed in a good direction. With a Vezina caliber goaltender and a Norris Trophy defenseman, you’re always going to be in a good place, it’s just a matter of time and a couple of additional pieces keeping Nashville out of the contention conversation.
Chris Feldman
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