Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Nashville Predators

For the last 19 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 20th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – David Rittich, Nick Cousins, Matt Benning, Luke Kunin, Philippe Myers, Mathieu Olivier

Incoming – Nino Niederreiter, Zach Sanford, Kevin Lankinen, Mark Jankowski, Ryan McDonagh

Impact of changes – After putting up one of the best scoring seasons in franchise history where both Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene topped the previous franchise record for goals, and Roman Josi chased for 100 points, the majority of the roster will be returning for another year. The team may be another year older, but there were a few key additions made, and those should help balance out the inevitable decline from the regression of the percentages. Mcdonagh especially will help things in the defensive end, while Niederreiter should help with the power play. None of the departures are all that impactful.

Ready for Full Time –

Connor Ingram – The 25-year old goaltender does not require waivers anymore, and even though the Predators acquired Kevin Lankinen, Ingram should see starts – be it with Nashville or whatever team picks him up off waivers. He may not have the upside of a top-end starter like Juuse Saros, but Ingram showed some poise at times in the Colorado series and his small taste of action in the regular season, and could hold value as a platoon goalie.

Cody Glass – Given another chance after his progression in Vegas stalled, Glass showed that his potential was still there under the surface with 62 points in 66 AHL games. The Predators don't have their fourth line centre spot filled, and there could still be a spot in the top-six to be won away from Philip Tomasino if Glass shows well at camp. Regardless, it looks like there is a lineup spot that's his to lose.

Fantasy Outlook:

Saros remains one of the better fantasy goalies, and should be a 60+ start workhorse once again on a team that will contend for a playoff spot. Not much change there regardless of whether it ends up being Lankinen or Ingram behind him.

On defence it will be interesting to see how the pairings shake out, as the top three names of Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, and McDonagh are all lefties, with Alexander Carrier, Dante Fabbro, and Jeremy Lauzon expected to cover the right side. How the ice time shakes out will determine the ultimate upside of everyone aside from Josi, who remains one of the top-five fantasy defencemen. Fabbro was Josi's most frequent partner last year, and is nearly at his breakout threshold. He could be the second-highest scoring dman of the set, and should push Ekholm for secondary power play time.

Nino Niederreiter's affinity for firing the puck should mmesh will with Ryan Johansen on the second line, giving him a skilled shooter that he was missing last year after the Viktor Arvidsson trade. Nashville won't be a one-line team, especially in bangers leagues where the third (Herd) line of Tanner Jeannot (a must-own in PIM and/or hits leagues), Colton Sissons, and Yakov Trenin provides a ton of PIMs, hits, and blocks.

As a team, the Predators led the league in PIMs last season. Don't expect them to be quite as high this year, especially if Mark Borowiecki sees less games.

Grade – B+ (last year was B-)