The Predators re-signed Filip Forsberg to an eight-year $8.5 million AAV contract which should come as a huge relief to their fanbase. Nashville has been able to keep its core intact for this upcoming season.

GM and Coach

David Poile will be entering his 16th season as the GM in Nashville after being GM in Washington for 14 years. It's hard to believe that he has been a GM in the NHL for more than 30 years in this era of coaches and GMs being replaced after two or three seasons.  In 15 seasons in Nashville, the team has made the playoffs 12 of 15 times, making it to the Finals once in 2016-17 and being eliminated in the first round six times and the second round four times.

John Hynes was hired mid-season during the 2020-21 season after being the head coach in New Jersey for three and a half seasons. His record with Nashville is 92-64-10 and the Predators have reached the playoffs all three seasons he has been there.

Salary Cap

The Predators have just over $9.2 million in cap space available to them for the 2022-23 season.

The team has John Leonard (23) and Yakov Trenin (25) to re-sign as restricted free agents.

Nashville could still add one or two significant free agents, but don't have much in the way of needs, other than improve the top-six offensively if they don't feel Philip Tomasino (20) or Eeli Tolvanen (23) are progressing enough.

The team has $2.0 million in dead cap space for each of the next six seasons for buying out Kyle Turris in October 2020 (in the second year of a six-year $6 million AAV contract). Not one of David Poile's best moves as a GM.

Draft Picks

Nashville had six picks in the 2022 entry draft and picked 17th overall by selecting Joakim Kemell (RW) who posted 39-15-8-23 with JYP in the Finnish Liiga as a 17-year-old (he turned 18 on April 27th).

Other picks were:

3rd round – 82nd overall – Adam Ingram (18) (C/LW) 54-26-29-55 with Youngstown USHL

3rd round – 84th overall – Kasper Kulonummi (18) (D) 3-0-0-0 with Kiekko-Vanta of the Finnish Mestis league

4th round – 114th overall – Cole O'Hara (20) (RW) 58-25-48-73 with Tri-City of the USHL

5th round – 146th overall – Graham Sward (18) (D) 57-10-33-43 with Spokane of the WHL

7th round – 210th overall – Ben Strinden (20) (RW/LW) 61-25-32-57 with Muskegon of the USHL

In 2023, Nashville has an extra 3rd and 4th round pick but has traded away their 7th round pick. They have eight picks in total.

Free Agents

The Predators added some depth in free agency by adding Mark Jankowski (27), Keifer Sherwood (27), Kevin Gravel (30), Roland McKeown (26), Jordan Gross (27), Kevin Lankinen (27) and Zach Sanford (27).

Sanford was the only skater of this group that was an NHL regular last season where he posted an 80-9-12-21 split between Ottawa and Winnipeg.

Kevin Lankinen should be the backup this season as he played 32 games last year with Chicago but struggled as did the whole team. His record was 8-15-6 with a 3.50 GAA, an 89.1 save percentage and a GSAA of minus 19.49. He will hope to find some chemistry with fellow Finn Juuse Saros in the crease.

The biggest off-season signing so far for Nashville was getting Forsberg to re-sign.

Restricted free agents are Trenin and Leonard and both should come in around $1 million AAV, so the team should have about $7 million of cap space if they wanted to spend to the maximum.

Roster

The Predators come in with an average player game rating of 6.49 which is tied for 4th in the NHL, so they should be a strong team this year. Obviously if Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg or Juuse Saros are out for any length of time it might put a damper on things.

Forwards

The top line is led by Forsberg (27) with a fresh new contract, Mikael Granlund (30) and Matt Duchene (31). Forsberg had 42 goals and 42 assists in only 69 games last season which beat his career-high of 33 goals and 64 points in 2015-16 with points matched again in 2017-18. There are some warning signs with Forsberg for next season; a new contract, he hasn't played more than 69 games since 2016-17 and his shooting percentage was 18.6 last season whereas his career average is about 12.9. Shots on goal is not a worry with him as he has averaged 3.0/game over his career and 3.3/game over the past four seasons.

Duchene (31) had a career-year as well with 43 goals and 43 assists in 78 games. His prior high was 31 goals and 39 assists in 2018-19 split between Ottawa and Columbus. He struggled with injuries over the prior two seasons in Nashville playing 66 games and then 34, and there is little doubt he was playing hurt in quite a few of those games. He elevated his shots per game last season to 2.9 which he hadn't had since 2013-14 in Colorado when he had 3.1. His career average is 2.5 with a career shooting percentage of 13.2, lower than the 18.9 he had last year. He did well on the power play last year with 16 PPGs and 29 PPPs, which will be difficult to match next season. Interestingly he didn't take that many faceoffs last year winning only 119 last year for a 54.1 percentage. He was routinely in the top five in faceoff wins in the league prior to his injuries, so perhaps the Predators are easing him back into it.

Mikael Granlund (30) is probably not an ideal first-line center but he had a great year last year with 11 goals and 53 assists in 64 games. His career-high is 26 goals and 43 assists while with Minnesota in 2016-17. The faceoffs went to Granlund who had a career-high of 569 wins on a 47.2 percentage. It's a little strange that the Predators would give up at least a seven percent difference in faceoff wins by having Granlund take them over Duchene, so it must be preventative injury related. In the prior two seasons to last year, Granlund had 30 points in 63 games and 27 points in 51.

After the first line, the wingers are led by Tanner Jeannot (25) and Yakov Trenin (25). Jeannot had a great rookie year with 24 goals and 17 assists and 318 hits in 81 games while Trenin had 17 goals and seven assists and 191 hits in 80 games. Jeannot has now played 96 NHL games and has 29 goals with a shooting percentage of 19.7. I'm not sure how he can sustain it, so expect some regression this year. Trenin shot 12.5 percent, so he should still get 15-20 goals next year.

There were 63 players that played at least 40 NHL games last season and had 40 percent or fewer zone starts in the OZ. Jeannot (39.5) led those 63 players with 24 goals while Trenin (35.6) was behind Ilya Mikheyev (35.7) with 21 goals and J.G. Pageau (37.4) with 18.

After those two, the wingers on Nashville are still improving with the case of Eeli Tolvanen (23), Philip Tomasino (20)  and John Leonard (23) while Michael McCarron (27), Zach Sanford (27), Mark Jankowski (27), Keifer Sherwood (27) and Cole Smith (26) are what they are.

On the surface, Tolvanen took a step backwards production wise with 11 goals and 12 assists in 75 games, which basically duplicated his output from 40 games the year before which was his rookie season. His numbers were a little inflated from his rookie year as he had six goals and six assists on the PP while last season only one PPG and six PPPs. He was sound defensively in his second year and still gets some time on the PP and has the ability to move up the lineup if needed. He should see second-line minutes for most of the season.

Tomasino  had an impressive rookie year as a 20-year-old with only 29 AHL games on his professional resume. He finished the season with 11 goals and 21 assists in 76 games. His shots on goal were 1.5/game which totalled 111 with a shooting percentage of 9.9. If he wants to get to 20 goals he will need to shoot more often, but his production is impressive playing 11:32 per game. I'd expect his ice time to increase this year at even strength to 13-15 per game this year. He could get 15-20 goals and 40-45 points.

Leonard had 27 goals in 33 games in his last season of College in 2019-20 with UMass, so we know he can score goals. Since turning pro he has played 47 AHL games with 18 goals and 16 assists and 58 NHL games with four goals and 11 assists all spread over the last two years with San Jose. With Tolvanen and Tomasino not locked in on the second line, Leonard might get an opportunity there. I think he's the type of player that needs to be in the top-six or might struggle in the NHL. He needs to produce when given the chance.

Give Michael McCarron credit as the 27-year-old former 25th overall pick by Montreal in 2013 had played six NHL games since the 2017-18 season. He played a career-high 51 games last year in Nashville and had seven goals, seven assists and 116 hits. The 6'6" 232 pound center/winger might have found a home as he killed penalties, played fairly well defensively and killed penalties. He also won 192 faceoffs with a 54.4 percentage. He might be capable of 10 goals and 10 assists with 150 hits.

Zach Sanford was signed as an unrestricted free agent for two years at $850k AAV. Last season he had nine goals, 11 assists and 169 hits in 80 games split between Ottawa and Winnipeg. He fits the mould of the Predators with his physical play. In 2019-20 he had 16 goals and 14 assists in 58 games with St. Louis, so there is offense in his toolbelt. I'd expect similar stats to last year with 10 goals, 10 assists and 150-175 hits. 

Jankowski, Sherwood and Smith are all depth players that should see as many as 10-20 games with Nashville, depending on injuries to the forward group.

Down the middle, Nashville has Ryan Johansen (29), Colton Sissons (28), Cody Glass (23) and Thomas Novak (25). We might see Egor Afanasyev get some games as well.

Johansen had a resurgent season with 26 goals and 37 assists in 79 games with 11 of his goals being on the power play. He had gone seven years prior with no more than 15 goals in a season, so last year was a bit of an anomaly. His shot rate didn't go up as it was only 1.5/game (career 1.9), but his shooting percentage was 22.0, almost double his career average of 11.7. He turns 30 before next season and I don't think he will see 20 goals next year, but he seemed healthier and more engaged this past season with Duchene back healthy, so I would expect 15-20 goals and 35-40 assists again.

Sissons is signed until the end of the 2025-26 season at $2.857 million AAV. He has played all eight of his NHL seasons in Nashville and has a career-high of 15 goals and 15 assists in 75 games in 2018-19. Last year he had seven goals and 21 assists in 79 games, but offense is not his game. Outside of the 17 games in his first season he hasn't had zone starts in the OZ higher than 36.2 in seven seasons. He is a shutdown center, who is good on the penalty kill, winning faceoffs (55.7) and being physical (188 hits).

The club is hoping that Cody Glass is ready to stay in the NHL this year. The former 6th overall pick by Vegas in the 2017 draft has played 74 career games with Vegas and Nashville with nine goals and 14 assists. He has struggled at even strength and in the faceoff circle so far. He played eight games with Nashville last season but the team elected to have him play 66 games in the AHL with Milwaukee where he had 14 goals and 48 assists. He is going to be one of my sleepers this season as he has the skill to help a power play and should play top-six minutes once he's ready. He could be capable of 10-15 goals and 25-35 assists this year.

Novak is similar to Glass in that they are both pass first players. Novak played 27 games with Nashville last year and had a goal and six assists before being sent down half way through the year to the AHL where he played 42 games and had seven goals and 27 assists. Novak might be further along defensively than Glass, but doesn't have nearly the ceiling.

Down the road, the Predators have forwards Joakim Kemell (18), Zachary L'Heureux (19) and Fedor Svechkov (19) who are all first round picks from 2021 and 2022.

Defense

This defense starts and ends with Roman Josi (32) who just set his career-highs with 23 goals and 73 assists in 80 games last season. He had a career-high 281 SOG with a shooting percentage of 8.2, which seems high for a defenseman, but his career average is 6.5. He had 11 PPG and 37 PPPs and received zone starts in the OZ 60.6 percent of the time last year. Will he get 96 points again? Probably not, but if he gets 65-75 it can hardly be a disappointing season.

Ryan McDonagh (33) was acquired from Tampa Bay for Philippe Myers (25) and Grant Mismash (23). McDonagh had four goals and 22 assists in 71 games with 96 hits and 137 blocked shots, while averaging 22:27. Unless he plays on the right side, I'm not sure with Josi and Ekholm in the mix that he will see more than 17-19 minutes per night in Nashville. McDonagh's defensive analytical numbers didn't flatter him last year, but the reduced minutes might help that.

Mattias Ekholm (32), Dante Fabbro (24) and Alexandre Carrier (25) are all above average defencemen and if healthy the Predators have five very solid defenders.

Ekholm signed a new four year deal that begins this season at $6.25 million AAV. It's an expensive contract but makes up for his prior one where he earned $3.75 million AAV over the prior six seasons. Last year he had six goals and 25 assists, 79 hits and 96 blocked shots in 76 games. He averaged 23:29 per game last year and could see some of that ice time given to McDonagh. He should get 30-40 points next year which he has done seven of the past eight years.

Fabbro is entering his fourth NHL season (breakout?) after putting up three goals and 21 assists, 69 hits and 105 blocked shots in 66 games last season which were all career highs. He averaged 19:03 per night and has been stuck in the 19 minute range for three years now. Being paired with Josi, unfortunately means hanging back and watching Josi go. The best thing that could happen for Fabbro's production is if he was paired with Ekholm or McDonagh instead.

Carrier had an excellent rookie season with three goals and 27 assists, 95 hits, 124 blocked shots in 77 games while averaging 20:59 per game. He was paired with Ekholm 61.8 percent and Josi 21.8 percent of the time. The Predators have no need to change the top four as they had great success last season.

The sixth spot on defence is up for grabs between Mark Borowiecki (33) and Jeremy Lauzon (25) with Jordan Gross (27), Roland McKeown (26) and Kevin Gravel (30) added depth.

Borowiecki has played 79 games with Nashville over the past two seasons with five assists, 189 PIM, 250 hits and 116 blocked shots while averaging just over 13 minutes per game. He hasn't played more than 57 games in a season since 2016-17 and is unlikely to play more than that next year.

Lauzon was acquired from Seattle for a 2nd round pick (Jani Nyman) in 2022. In 66 games split between Seattle and Nashville he had two goals, five assists, 224 hits and 63 blocked shots while averaging 17:41 per game. He should have the upper hand in the pecking order over Borowiecki.

Goalie

Juuse Saros (27) was easily a top-10 goalie in the NHL last season. He played 67 games with a record of 38-25-7, a 2.64 GAA, a 91.8 save percentage and a GSAA of 14.52. He removed all doubts (including my own) that he could play effectively for more than 40 games in a year. He's a bonafide NHL starting goalie. He's signed at $5 million AAV until the end of 2024-25.

The backup role will be either fellow Finn, Kevin Lankinen (27) or Connor Ingram (25).

Lankinen struggled with Chicago last season where he played 32 games with a record of 8-15-6, a GAA of 3.50, an 89.1 save percentage and a GSAA of minus 19.49. He should have a much better team in front of him but he will still need to be better than he was. He could be a sleeper pick who could see 25-35 starts next year.

Ingram played three games with Nashville last season and 54 AHL games in Milwaukee where he had a 2.70 GAA and a save percentage of 91.5. Ingram might be ready for a regular role in the NHL but just needs an opportunity.

There are some pretty big holes in this lineup as it stands, especially in goal, on the second and third lines in the forwards and five through seven on defense. I don't think they will be a better team than this year, but they might not need to be to get back to the finals once again.

Overall

Nashville has a pretty solid roster as it stands. I think they could upgrade on the wing if Tolvanen and/or Tomasino don't progress this season. This is a very physical lineup management has made concerted efforts to bring in players that fit that mould.

It's an ageing roster, with a window of three or four years to win the Stanley Cup.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you want me to focus on any players or topics by messaging me below or following me on Twitter @gampbler15.