Nashville Predators Schedule

[Guest]

Looks like you guys might be heading towards a top pick in the draft to add to the Forsberg acquisition. 

 

But at the risk of getting my head bit off...at some point it has to be about this year and not always the future. You were a couple of points out of the playoff race when you traded Erat. Not alot of teams work in an economic and fan culture where that makes business sense. 

 

The Preds could have missed the playoffs and the playoff revenue and it was pretty easy for them to decide to get Erat's salary off the books while also getting a top notch talent like Forsberg as a future annuity. 

 

In the past the organsiation has shown the willingness to make moves like getting Kariya signed, Weber signed and trying to sign Suter. Obviously the Preds felt like they weren't close and had to invest in some franchise building for the future. 

 

But consider that the LA Kings made the playoffs last year as the 8th seed and won the cup. And with Rinne as your goaltender he can steal all kinds of playoff games. 

[Guest]

Looks like you guys might be heading towards a top pick in the draft to add to the Forsberg acquisition. 

 

But at the risk of getting my head bit off...at some point it has to be about this year and not always the future. You were a couple of points out of the playoff race when you traded Erat. Not alot of teams work in an economic and fan culture where that makes business sense. 

 

The Preds could have missed the playoffs and the playoff revenue and it was pretty easy for them to decide to get Erat's salary off the books while also getting a top notch talent like Forsberg as a future annuity. 

 

In the past the organsiation has shown the willingness to make moves like getting Kariya signed, Weber signed and trying to sign Suter. Obviously the Preds felt like they weren't close and had to invest in some franchise building for the future. 

 

But consider that the LA Kings made the playoffs last year as the 8th seed and won the cup. And with Rinne as your goaltender he can steal all kinds of playoff games. 

 

All true. Being a Preds fan it often felt like we were caught in the middle--trying to balance never rebuilding with getting a team that had enough elite talent to truly win. Too often it meant that we made the playoffs yet didn't really have the chops to go all the way. A few times it's felt like we really went all in (getting Forsberg, last season's moves). Now it feels like in the short season with so many injuries and no Suter we will be shaping up to rebuild for once, and I'm fine with that. We've got a bunch of young talent that I want to see get ice time. This year's draft is crucial. Hopefully we get a guy like Jonathan Drouin who can score. 

[Mercalius]

Looks like you guys might be heading towards a top pick in the draft to add to the Forsberg acquisition. 

 

But at the risk of getting my head bit off...at some point it has to be about this year and not always the future. You were a couple of points out of the playoff race when you traded Erat. Not alot of teams work in an economic and fan culture where that makes business sense. 

 

The Preds could have missed the playoffs and the playoff revenue and it was pretty easy for them to decide to get Erat's salary off the books while also getting a top notch talent like Forsberg as a future annuity. 

 

In the past the organsiation has shown the willingness to make moves like getting Kariya signed, Weber signed and trying to sign Suter. Obviously the Preds felt like they weren't close and had to invest in some franchise building for the future. 

 

But consider that the LA Kings made the playoffs last year as the 8th seed and won the cup. And with Rinne as your goaltender he can steal all kinds of playoff games. 

 

I'm hoping it's actually a shift in philosophy.  In no way do I want us to lose our defensive identity.  It seems to be a TN theme, really, and it fits well with the Predators style having two of the best defensive players in the league (Rinne + Weber) locked up long term.  Hopefully though, the move to shop Erat and maybe coincidentally lining up with nabbing a top pick in the draft means the team has realized that a score-by-committee type approach of (arguably) overpaid, middling players just isn't going to cut it.  You can't tell from the season stats, but Rinne has made us look twice as good as we actually are.  I think I read it was something like 13 games this season where we didn't even score a goal.  No team can, or will, do well when you can't consistently put some in net, and as we saw early, even our marginal offense is severely hampered by dry-spells from typically consistent guys and the worse than average injury bug we've been hit with this season.  

However, this lack of production, though ugly this year, has actually IMO helped us.  We've seen a LOT of icetime from our younger guys (there's a joke that we should rename ourselves the Admirals, our minor league team, this year since there's so many fresh faces on the lineup) , and people like Wilson (pre-injury), Roman Josi, and Taylor Beck have really given me faith that a fully-embraced youth movement can work here.  Not counting an untimely injury or extreme regression in play, these guys will be stars - at least in the eyes of Preds fans if not league-wide.  Even guys like Smith and Bourque who play frustratingly at times show some wow-factor, Smith in particular, to warrant faith they could be solid another season or two down the road.  

 

Factor in Forsberg, and ideally an early pick Center/Winger to better compliment him this season and we could gradually see our front-lines injected with fresh, relatively-inexpensive players that are capable of producing higher caliber hockey than what we've been seeing from the older, consistent, yet unspectacular guys we tend to generally stock up on our roster.  It may not be this coming season, as Forsberg may not be fully ready for a full NHL season and there's no promise even a top 3 pick would contribute immediately - likely needing a year minimum to transition to the big league, but the groundwork is definitely setting up for a lot of potential down the road.

You can't compare the NFL to the NHL in a fair way, but I'd say the Predators are in a similar situation as the Titans.  Tons of youth, tons of potential, but inconsistent in a few areas and potential mismanaging their investments in a few areas.  Fortunately, the Predators two biggest contracts (Rinne and Weber) are undoubtedly two of the ideal players we should have paid.  The rest will require some patience, smart spending in FA, and maybe a little bit of luck, but I'm actually more optimistic now after evaluating our young players, landing Forsberg, and knowing we'll get a high draft pick than I was 3 weeks ago when the playoffs were still a possibility but there seemed to be no long-term strategy at play and there were infinitely more questions than answers.  

[freakingeek]

Looks like you guys might be heading towards a top pick in the draft to add to the Forsberg acquisition. 

 

But at the risk of getting my head bit off...at some point it has to be about this year and not always the future. You were a couple of points out of the playoff race when you traded Erat. Not alot of teams work in an economic and fan culture where that makes business sense. 

 

The Preds could have missed the playoffs and the playoff revenue and it was pretty easy for them to decide to get Erat's salary off the books while also getting a top notch talent like Forsberg as a future annuity. 

 

In the past the organsiation has shown the willingness to make moves like getting Kariya signed, Weber signed and trying to sign Suter. Obviously the Preds felt like they weren't close and had to invest in some franchise building for the future. 

 

But consider that the LA Kings made the playoffs last year as the 8th seed and won the cup. And with Rinne as your goaltender he can steal all kinds of playoff games. 

 

Goaltending isn't the issue, it's goal scoring. We've been shutout a league high 9 or 10 times as well as having the lowest gaols per game average for most of the season so even if we would have snuck in, we weren't going anywhere. I'm fine with not making the playoffs. (well not really but it is what it is) We are one of the few teams that have been in the playoffs 7 out of the last 8 years. Lets take the high draft picks, make some offseason moves for goal scorers and retool. Our young guys got some good experience this year and that will bode well next year.

[tinman]

2-0.. lets the fights begin..

[Mercalius]

After another loss, it looks like we're in the thick of the Jonathan Drouin or Nathan Mackinnon sweepstakes. Both guys are teammates and they're ridiculous. If we land either of them, paired with Forsberg...our offense could be scary

And like I said earlier, I never root for losses - but I'm perfectly content at this point trying to game for the draft while getting our younger guys some experience. Last night, though we lost, the kids played with a passion and energy we haven't seen in a month and they kept up with a much more skilled team for a majority of the game. Im not trying to oversell the Canucks and underplay our own guys, but it really was mostly a minor league team vs a highly seeded playoff contender out there. Solid effort plus moving up in draft position = win/win on my book.

[Mercalius]

Oh, and for those wondering what these two guys look like (plus writeups on both prospects):

 

MacKinnon:

 

http://lastwordonsports.com/2013/04/10/nathan-mackinnon-2013-nhl-draft-player-profile-2/

 

http://youtu.be/aAjifZN0FX8

 

Drouin:

 

http://lastwordonsports.com/2013/04/09/jonathan-drouin-2013-nhl-draft-player-profile-1/

 

 

 

There's another couple of guys that look legit as Hell too (Lindholm and Barkov) but the two above are going to be studs, almost for certain and could very likely start next year at 18 years old.  It's crazy we could start next season with Forsberg and hopefully one of those guys on ice.  

[Guest]

You guys have looked at this more recently than I have but last I checked there was a US college defencemen who had surpassed mcKinnon as the #1 guy.  Still the Panthers are a lock for #1 overall so they'll likely pick him. 

 

I know you guys are looking for scoring but you still take the BAP. McKinnon is close though. Drouin for sure won;t be in the top 2 because he's small if I recollect properly but has top end offensive potential. I guess kind of like when Patrick Kane came out. 

[Mercalius]

Seth Jones is the defenseman, and he looks like a total stud.  Very likely he's going first as prospects of his caliber defensively don't come around hardly ever.  It's a strong year for offense too, but the rarity of a guy like Jones makes him almost undoubtedly the number 1 pick.  Like you said though, there's pretty much no way we get the first pick overall so it should be a non issue for us.  Drouin has flown up draft boards since February though.  He was barely a top 10 pick 6 months ago, but he's been steadily rising after showing constant improvement and proving he could still be as effective without MacKinnon on ice.  Most sites have it 1a/1b/1c between the three guys as depending on team/need, any would make sense with the first overall.  Drouin though, for his upside, is starting to be more highly regarded than MacKinnon - though I think MacKinnon is a more natural fit for what the Predators need.  I'd be ecstatic about either honestly, and I'm pretty fond of Lindholm too, if neither of the above were available.  It's just kinda amazing to me that we have a chance to add two dynamic offensive options in the same year.  If we get a top 3 pick though, you can almost bet your ass that Drouin or MacKinnon will be wearing gold.