Are the Nashville Predators Stanley Cup Contenders?

Oct 31, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Nashville Predators left wing James Neal (18) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Calgary Flames during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Nashville is known more for country music than it is for hockey, but is it possible that could change soon?. Right now the Predators are sitting in second place in the Central Divison at 8-3-2 with 18 pts, one shy of the St. Louis Blues, and ahead of teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks (perennial Cup favorites) and Colorado Avalanche who won the division last season. Most preseason predictions had them anywhere from 17th to 20th place (or worse) in preseason power rankings and out of playoff contention. But are they capable of staying near the top of the division?

The answer to that question depends on two things: offense and defense (WELL DUH!). Before you shut your brain down for rebooting, hear me out. Some teams are built to win on defense, scoring just enough to win. Others are built on an offensive attack designed to score early an often and hope to keep the other team at least one goal behind. Nashville, though really has neither of those things.

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Before you burst a blood vessel from the (I am going to tone down your hypothetical potty mouth here) “idiotic” statement I just made allow me to throw some statistics at you. The Predators are 21st in Power Play percentage (15.3%) with 6 goals in 39 opportunities and tied for 19th in overall goals scored. Their Penalty Kill, on the other hand, is 28th at 71% and has allowed 11 goals (the same PP goals allowed as the Dallas Stars who sit in dead last at this time). These are, of course, high level statistics and advanced metrics such as Corsi or Fenwick (I think I went to high school with a Corsi Fenwick) might tell a different tale, though I doubt it. But what these stats do show is that the Predators are not that great on offense or on defense when short handed. They are 12th in shots allowed. So, why even suggest that they might be Stanley Cup contenders?

Well, simply put, because of Pekka Rinne. I am fully aware of his past injury issues, but if he can stay healthy he’s going to help his middling offense win games. He’s currently 7th in GAA at 1.89 and 7th in save percentage at .932 and the team is scoring 2.46 goals a game. Despite being in the lower part of offensive categories, their offense is scoring more goals than Rinne allows. That strategy often leads to wins.

The season is still young and Nashville has the ability to impove with a tweak here or a tweak there. In fact, the only real area they need to improve is the penalty kill. If they can improve that, then Predators fans could be looking at team capable of making a deep run. My prediction is that they do in fact make the playoffs, but that they won’t go any farther than the second round.