4 Big Questions for the Nashville Predators in 2020-21
There are four Big Questions the Nashville Predators will need to answer in 2020-21.
We are marching on with our 2020-21 NHL Season Previews and today we take a long, deep look at the Nashville Predators.
The Predators are what you could and should call an enigma in that they are absolutely loaded, but have punched well below their weight for a few seasons now, failing to really recover properly since their loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
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That is despite the best efforts of General Manager David Poile, who has made aggressive move after aggressive move after aggressive move in order to extend the Predators’ win-now window as much as possible.
As such, Nashville will enter the year with a chance to compete and win yet again but, time is running out for this core and things could get blown up if progress isn’t made.
So, without further ado, let’s delve into the 4 Big Questions facing the Nashville Predators in the 2020-21 NHL Season…
4. What impact will John Hynes have on this team?
Peter Laviolette took the bullet for many of his big guns failing to deliver and live up to their potential in 2019-20, with former New Jersey Devils Head Coach John Hynes getting the gig in Smashville.
While there were subtle signs of improvement under Hynes both down the stretch prior to the stoppage and inside The Bubble, it was a small sample size and we won’t really be privy to what the Nashville Predators will look like under John Hynes until the puck drops on the 2020-21 season.
We are of course getting close to finding out the answer to that question, and it will be fascinating to see just what this talent-laden team looks like in the image of their newish Head Coach.
Because that’s the rub here. While they flamed out in the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs after losing to a weaker team in the Arizona Coyotes in the Best-of-Five Play-In Round, this Predators roster is still awash with star power and elite game-changers.
The top-six forward group alone is one of the best in the entire NHL, at least on paper, 2019-20 Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi is an absolute horse on the backend and Juuse Saros looks like he could be the future No.1 goalie for this franchise.
However, Hynes will have to work out how to squeeze every ounce of talent from a core that has failed to live up to their potential, outside of Josi, while making the Predators tougher and less predictable to play against.
He will also have to solve special teams with the Preds ranked 29th on the penalty kill (76.1) last year, while they also struggled on the power play which was the 25th best in the league (17.3).
So, there is a lot of work to be done by John Hynes who likes to play a quick and smooth transition game, and we will see throughout the 2020-21 season if he has what it takes to turn things around in Smashville and lead the Nashville Predators to the promised land finally.
3. Is 2020-21 the year Eeli Tolvanen finally breaks out?
Nashville Predators fans were steeped in anticipation when their franchise selected forward Eeli Tolvanen with the 30th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
After all, the right-winger was projected to go a lot higher in the Draft by a lot of experts, so the general consensus was that the Predators had done incredibly well to take the stud late in the First Round.
However, the organization has treated Tolvanen with kid gloves so far and have seemed hesitant to really unleash arguably their most-talented asset on the NHL, with the 21-year-old appearing in a grand total of just seven NHL regular-season games with two points (1 G, 1 A) since his draft year.
He has spent the majority of his time in the American Hockey League with the Milwaukee Admirals, where he put up 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points in 63 games in 2019-20, before recording 13 points (5 G, 8 A) in 25 games for Jokerit in the KHL to start the 2020-21 season.
Tolvanen has impressed throughout Training Camp for the Nashville Predators, though, and there is room for him on this roster, either on the second-line with Matt Duchene or perhaps on a new-look third-line with Luke Kunin and maybe veteran Brad Richardson.
But the Predators crave secondary scoring having ranked 16th in Goals For Per Game in 2019-20 (3.07), and Tolvanen can certainly help to spark that with his accurate and deadly shot and release, a weapon that could also prove useful on the power play too.
If Eeli Tolvanen can finally be given enough games to prove himself, then expect the stud winger to run with it and provide the Nashville Predators with yet another potent offensive weapon in 2020-21.
2. Can Juuse Saros carry the load in 2020-21?
It is no secret that teams with the best goalie tandems this season will succeed in what will be a sprint to the finish line in a shortened and condensed 56-game schedule.
Therefore, teams like the Vegas Golden Knights, the Dallas Stars and the Montreal Canadiens could be set up to really thrive in 2020-21 given their strength between the pipes.
What about the Nashville Predators though?
It was a rough ride for veteran Pekka Rinne who went 18-14-4 in 2019-20 with a 3.17 Goals Against Average and a .895 Save Percentage.
That is not what you want.
Then there was Juuse Saros who really flourished under new Head Coach John Hynes, and he was the regular starter for the Predators down the stretch and in the postseason.
Saros finished last year 17-12-4 with a 2.70 GAA and a .914 SV% to go along with four shutouts, although he was shaky in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a .895 SV% and a 3.22 GAA.
However, clearly having earned the trust of Hynes, it wouldn’t be surprising if Saros starts the 2020-21 NHL season as the undisputed starter for the Predators.
He’s still a couple of years away from his prime at 25-years-old and has high upside, and it is likely that he gets leaned on a lot this year due to the fact that he has less wear and tear on his body and will have the endurance to maybe go in both nights of a back-to-back if needed.
While Rinne will still be relied on during the course of a 56-game season, it does appear as though the starting job is beginning to be handed over to Juuse Saros, and only time will tell if he’s able to handle the pressures of that role on a full-time basis in 2020-21.
1. Can the Big Guns deliver in all areas in 2020-21?
As we’ve mentioned a lot already in this Season Preview, the Nashville Predators have severely underachieved despite boasting a roster that is loaded with firepower.
From Matt Duchene to Filip Forsberg to Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson, the Predators should have one of the best-ranked forward groups in the entire National Hockey League.
Instead, they ranked 16th in Goals For Per Game (3.07) in 2019-20, while not one forward reached 50 or more points, with the only player on the team to crack 50 being defenseman Roman Josi, who won the Norris Trophy thanks to a stellar 65-point (16 G, 49 A) season.
Forsberg led all team forwards in points with 48 (21 G, 27 A) while Matt Duchene was just behind him with 42 (13 G, 29 A), but Johansen only put up 36 points (14 G, 22 A) in 68 regular-season games which isn’t good enough for a top-line center.
Arvidsson also had a difficult year with 28 points (15 G, 13 A) in 57 games, and the Nashville Predators will need a lot more from their stars if they are to challenge the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Dallas Stars in the Central Division.
Duchene, who has an AAV of $8 million, will need to put up a lot more goals this season than the 13 he delivered in 2019-20, while Johansen, who also earns $8 million per year, needs a huge bounce-back year too.
Nashville also needs their most potent weapons to deliver more on the power play, a unit that ranked 25th (17.3%) last year, with Josi doing most of the heavy lifting with 23 points on the man advantage – Forsberg was second on the team in PP points with 14.
Next. Ryan Murray is the ideal project. dark
It goes without saying that if the Nashville Predators are to finally live up to their potential and embark on a deep postseason run, then they will need their biggest stars and their top earners to start living up to their reputations and start delivering the goods in 2020-21.
Or else it could lead to an ugly offseason for this franchise.