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Nashville Predators: 2019-20 NHL season preview, predictions

By Dave Stevenson

NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 20: Teammates celebrate a second period goal by center Ryan Johansen (92) during Game Five of Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, held on April 20, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - APRIL 20: Teammates celebrate a second period goal by center Ryan Johansen (92) during Game Five of Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, held on April 20, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images /

Strengths

Defense and Goaltending

As is tradition, the Nashville Predators will be led by their outstanding defense and goaltending. Defensively, Roman Josi is the biggest name as the team captain. He ranks ninth among defensemen (min. 1000 minutes) in five-on-five points per hour over the past three seasons. Josi also ranks in the top five in goals per hour and is seventh in primary assists per hour.

However, you could argue Josi isn’t the Predators best defenseman. That title probably belongs to Mattias Ekholm. He’s always been solid at putting up points, as he has hovered around the 75th percentile in points per hour among defensemen in recent years. Last season, Ekholm ranked 23rd.

Ryan Ellis is coming off a rough season defensively, which is slightly concerning. But even during an off-year, his offense is good enough to overcome his defensive deficiencies. I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d bet on Ellis bouncing back.

Their goaltending is led by Pekka Rinne, who remains one of the NHL’s most consistent goaltenders. The Predators have been smart about managing his workload, which keeps him fresh. Juuse Saros had a bit of a down year, though he was still above average.

Top Line

Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson lead one of the NHL’s most consistent and lethal forward lines. In a down year, they ranked 19th out of the 73 lines with at least 200 minutes together in five-on-five goals per hour. Considering the trio ranked second in expected goals per hour, I’d expect them to be much better in the 2019-20 season.

They also post very strong underlying numbers. Their 10.57% relative expected goals for percentage ranked seventh in the NHL. The scary thing is, they could be even better. Johansen isn’t much of a goal scorer, but he has shown he can be one in the not-so-distant past.

Team Defense

The Predators weren’t as good defensively as they have been in the past, but they were still pretty darn good last season. At five-on-five, the Preds allowed the ninth-fewest expected goals against per hour. Defensively, I’d say the Predators are good enough at suppressing chances against that they’re Stanley Cup contenders.

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