With Filip Forsberg still sidelined with an upper-body injury, it was thankfully a short stint on the injured reserve for Viktor Arvidsson. The Nashville Predators activated their other superstar winger off the IR today following a retroactive placement that only kept him out of the lineup for two games, both of which were Preds’ wins.
Arvidsson, 24, is enjoying another strong campaign with 27 points through 42 games after his breakout 61-point 2016-17 season. Arvidsson signed a very reasonable (for Nashville) seven-year, $29.75MM contract extension this summer, meaning he’s now an important core forward for some time to come. With Forsberg and his team-leading 34 points out of the lineup and Ryan Johansen and Nick Bonino still struggling to find consistent offense, it’s important for the Central Division’s top team to get Arvidsson back and producing as fast as possible.
With Arvidsson healthy, it’s of course Frederick Gaudreau on his way back to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. Gaudreau has been the goat in Nashville this season, unable to hold onto a job through four NHL stints. After a brief glimpse of Gaudreau’s scoring talent showed itself in the playoffs last season, it seemed like he may be able to take on a full-time role in 2017-18. That hasn’t been the case, as Gaudreau has just three points in 20 NHL, despite having more than four times that many in as many AHL games.