The Predators eliminated what may have been the hottest team in the West in the Anaheim Ducks. They were able to do so in seven games, and were able to take the WCF champion Sharks to seven as well. Nashville is firmly a future contender, and will be a great team very soon.
What this article is about is helping the Predators to reach that stellar future. They have a few necessary moves to make, and these will be established within this article.
1. Rebuilding Offensively
The offense for the Nashville Predators has not been up to snuff in recent years, and when hard times hit for the Predators’ defense against San Jose, the Predators offense wasn’t able to provide for victories.
That needs to change if the Predators are going to challenge even further into the playoffs, and the fact that Roman Josi and Shea Weber were two of the Predators’ leading scorers, while great for those two players, this is trouble for the Predators.
The Predators need more attack, more presence offensively. They have to get better in this area, and whether it be through the draft or through free agency, this team has proven that either way works. Maybe even more trades the like of Johansen/Jones could get the Predators where they need to go. But something needs to be done for this team.
2. Youth
Part of this could come from the AHL and from other prospects, where the Predators have built a strong source of talent. Whether it be Kevin Fiala, Vladislav Kamenev, Yakov Trenin, or Jusse Saros, the Predators have a group of prospects ready to come up and make an impact. Saros, a goaltender, could be the eventual replacement for Pekka Rinne. Fiala, Kamenev, and Trenin represent the young talent of the Predators, the future of the team who is a future contender.
The team also has a group of young players already among their ranks in Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg, and Miikka Salomaki. Allowing these players to play more minutes and promoting them over players who could be leaving or have started playing less well (like Mike Ribeiro) could give them more confidence and more ability to develop, giving the Predators that much of a brighter future.
But promoting from within is not the only way the Predators need to get youth. They need to be willing to trade older guys for players who will make impacts not now but in the future, because while guys like Mike Fisher are current members, and solid members, of the Predators roster and should not be traded, the Predators need to focus on the future, a future less certain across the League, where cap troubles have finally sunk the Blackhawks, age has caught up with Crosby and Ovechkin, and there is no elites – the Predators should be there to step up and say, “no, we’re the elite”.
3. Extensions
The Predators have a group of players in need of extensions, including the aforementioned Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok, and in the near future, Johansen and Arvidsson.
These four players have potential with the Predators and have showed it in the playoffs, where it matters most. They should re-sign these guys not only because of the playoff success they’ve found, we wrote an article about why that doesn’t work just earlier today, but also because they play well in the future, and while a good group of Predators will be leaving the league soon, these four players should be staying, continuing to be able to play and play on a high level, something the Predators need.
Carter Hutton is also a potential extension for the Predators, and while the Preds should be looking to get younger, and Hutton is a 30 year old goaltender, the next section will explain why the Predators should be looking at their non-starter goaltenders and think “who will step up here?”
4. Unpopular Trades
Stay with me here. Over the next couple articles, I will be taking a stab at less popular moves a team could make that could potentially improve their squad. Today’s is unpopular trades in Nashville, including the likes of Shea Weber, Pekka Rinne, and Mike Ribeiro. Again, stay with me.
Pekka Rinne is probably the most obvious player to trade on the Nashville roster. He was outplayed by Carter Hutton throughout last year, and on a 7 million dollar contract, Rinne can’t afford to let that happen. There will be a goaltender market this summer, and the Predators should consider being sellers. A win now team should be interested in Rinne, because he’s a win now goaltender, and one that could be unhappy with the way his team left him out to dry in the last playoffs game. Rinne could be a fit in Dallas, in Colorado, in Calgary, all in need of a goaltender, all, to a degree, win now. Rinne could be on his way out, and while the ideal is not setting the market but seeing it be set high, there’s always the possibility that a team with weaker goaltending sets the market too low.
Shea Weber has progressively declined as his contract has worn on. When it comes to it’s end, Weber will not be the player he once was. And while that is a bit of stating the obvious, Weber was part of the reason Rinne was left out to dry, and his collapse in the late playoffs for the Predators was notable. It may be time to move what remains of one of the best defensemen in the league, and it would bring the Predators a remarkable return, especially for a team that should prepare for the future, perhaps one without Shea Weber being the all-star he has been in the past. The Predators need to trade Weber now, while he’s still a top ten defenseman. Because in two years, he may not be.
Ribeiro is probably the most agreeable name on this trade list. Agreeable, that is, that he should be traded. Just wanted to clear that up. Ribeiro was brought in to be the first line center. When that did not work, Ribeiro dropped to the third center, below Fisher and Johansen, who the Predators had to drop a good young defenseman to gain. 3.5 million is too much to spend on a depth center (unless that depth center makes your penalty kill one of the best in the league – so you’re good, Bowman). Ribeiro was one of the reasons the Predators offense was weak in the playoffs, and in 12 games he only put up 2 assists. The Predators need to get stronger in depth positions, and trading Ribeiro to a team in need of a top 2 center makes more sense than holding onto a guy without a role.
The Predators have a strong future ahead of them. They should be good soon, and could be deep threats and cup contenders. They have a few moves to make, and while some of them could be unpopular, each would help the team. I now regret leaving them off the list of teams with the brightest futures. Let’s call them 11th.