Nashville Predators: Top 3 key players who must step up against Coyotes

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PekkaRinne and JuuseSaros of the Nashville Predators (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

The Nashville Predators need more from these players if they want to beat the Arizona Coyotes.

On Sunday, August 2, the Nashville Predators will start their play-in round series against the Arizona Coyotes. The Predators are favored in this series, and rightfully so. They finished the regular season as the sixth seed in the Western Conference while the Coyotes finished the season as the 11th seed.

However, the Preds can’t afford to take the Coyotes lightly. They’re a bit better than their record suggests and their goaltending is fully capable of stealing the series, especially since the series will only be a five-game series. If the Predators aren’t careful, they could easily be upset for the second straight season.

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Nashville’s the better team, but they’ll need more from these three players than they got during the regular season. These three Predators could very well determine how the series goes.

3. Pekka Rinne or Juuse Saros

It remains to be seen who will be the starting goalie for the Predators in the postseason. Whoever gets the nod will be going against one of the top goaltending tandems in the NHL. Both Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta finished in the top 10 in GSAA (goals saved above average), according to Evolving Hockey. The Dallas Stars are the only other team to boast two goalies in the top 10.

Juuse Saros will most likely be the starter since he’s clearly been the superior goaltender this season. He won’t need to be better than Kuemper and Raanta. That’s asking way too much. Saros will merely need to be good enough for the Predators to win.

Regardless of who’s in net for the Predators, the pressure will be on them to keep the Preds from losing the series. Especially since this series between Nashville and Arizona reckons to be a fairly low-scoring one. If Saros and Pekka Rinne don’t step up, the Predators will most likely be heading home early for the second straight season.

Ryan Johansen of the Nashville Predators (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

2. Ryan Johansen

Ryan Johansen had his least productive season since joining the Predators, posting 36 points in 68 games. That’s also the third-lowest total of his career and his lowest since the 2012-13 season, when he had 40 points in 12 games.

Furthermore, according to Evolving Hockey, he was their second-least valuable forward, as only Austin Watson had a lower WAR (wins above replacement) than him this season. That includes players like Mathieu Olivier, who only played 8 games, and Miikka Salomaki, who only played 5 games.

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Johansen didn’t drive play either, as he was barely above average in terms of relative shot attempts for per hour and relative expected goals for per hour, both at 5v5. He was below average there among the Preds forwards. The Predators are paying him quite a pretty penny and they were expecting more from him.

Whatever plagued Johansen this season, the Predators are hoping the hiatus proves to be a good thing for him. Maybe it was a nagging injury. Whatever it was, the Preds need Johansen to be at his best against the Coyotes. The Coyotes struggle to create offense, which makes someone like Johansen especially important. If he can get back to his usual self, the Predators will be in pretty good shape.

Viktor Arvidsson of the Nashville Predators (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

1. Viktor Arvidsson

Viktor Arvidsson has usually been a spark plug for the Nashville Predators. Any time they need a big goal, he’s usually a part of it. Arvidsson has quietly been remarkably productive in recent years, but this season, his production took a pretty big nose dive, as he went from 48 points in 58 games last season to 28 games in 57 games this season.

It was more than just his production, too. Usually, Arvidsson has been a huge driver of the Predators 5v5 offense. This season, he was on the ice for 61.04 5v5 shot attempts per hour, which is a pretty huge drop from his recent totals.

2016-17: 68.11
2017-18: 63.49
2018-19: 71.75
2019-20: 61.04

What’s even more alarming is Arvidsson’s significant drop in shots on goal per hour. He’s usually the kind of player who shoots first and asks questions later. Arvidsson went from being one of the NHL’s most prolific shooters (third in the NHL from 2016-17 through 2018-19) to finishing 72nd among the 269 forwards with at least 650 5v5 minutes this season. That’s a pretty alarming drop.

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Goals could be hard to come by in this series. That makes someone like Arvidsson a potential gamechanger. He’s proven he’s quite capable at scoring goals. If the Predators can get him going, the Coyotes are screwed.

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