Matt Duchene, the Nashville Predator’s blockbuster free agent addition of this past summer, remains very confident in his new team, despite how their season is going. Duchene, in the first season on a seven-year, $56MM contract, is one of a number of under-performing players on the Nashville roster. The team has not played up to expectations this year, which has already cost head coach Peter Laviolette his job and now threatens to cost the team a trip to the postseason. Yet, Duchene believes the team has what it takes to turn their season around and qualify. He told the media on Monday that he feels that Nashville is a playoff team and, to double down, he does not think they need to make a move ahead of the forthcoming NHL Trade Deadline.
It’s a mighty big prognostication from a player who has been part of the problem and not the solution for the Predators this year. Duchene is on pace for just 56 points this season, which would be among the worst years of his career, when he was supposed to be shine on a talented Nashville roster. He’s not alone; Filip Forsberg (59 points), Ryan Johansen (47), Viktor Arvidsson (40), Kyle Turris (36), and Mikael Granlund (30) are all on pace to finish well below what has come to be expected of them. On top of that, veteran starter Pekka Rinne and young backup Juuse Saros are both experiencing the worst campaigns of their careers. Nearly all of Nashville’s key pieces outside of Roman Josi have disappointed to this point in the season, leaving them in the basement of the Central Division and among the worst teams in the league in a number of categories.
Yet, maybe Duchene has a point. A closer look would imply that perhaps Nashville is more than their current last-place position in the Central Division. With substantial games in hand on Minnesota, Chicago, and Winnipeg, the Predators’ .543 points percentage before Monday night’s game is actually fourth-best in the division. Beyond that, while the Preds currently trail the Vegas Golden Knights by six points for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, they are really just .005 points percentage points behind. Nashville actually seems to be well-positioned to compete for a spot. Also strange is the seeming lack of correlation between the number of underachieving core producers on the Predators and the actual state of their offense. At 3.30 goals for per game, the team is tied for seventh-best in the league in offense so far this season, even if only Josi is among the top scorers at his position.
With all that said, there is no hiding the fact that the Predators have been poor defensively and on special teams this season, their goaltending situation is shaky at best, and their best forwards have not risen to the occasion all year. Will the returns of Ryan Ellis and Colton Sissons be enough to boost the team? Can their struggling stars turn things around without help?
We already know how Duchene would vote, but what say you? Can the Predators make the playoffs?
No goaltending? No playoffs. Simple as that.
“Can The Predators Make The Playoffs?” w/John Hines as bench boss? Not at the rate they’re going…Nashville will start resembling NJ Southwest…
The Predators can make the playoffs, but I feel like that they need to make a trade now to shake the lineup up. They can’t afford to wait until the deadline if they want to make a playoff push. Poile needs to pull the trigger on a deal now.
What kind of deal would help though?
They need some grit & fire. The Preds are too easy to play against.
Firing Laviolette clearly wasn’t the answer to their woes and neither was hiring Hines. They’re now an easy team to physically play against when not long ago they were a pain in the arse to play against. That’s on GM Poile.
Without a clear-cut 1-8 in each conference, trading for an impact player or two, will be much tougher, no thanks to the cap. Teams on or near the bubble may not want to fold the tents just yet, which will make David’s job much harder. At the rate things are going, we’re going to either see a tremendous flurry of activity close to the deadline, or next to nothing.
They need to flip Granlund and Turris to clear some cap space, acquire some wingers and d-men. They also need to fire their goaltending coach.
No doubt. The Preds will definitely make the playoffs.
Can they? Absolutely. Will they? No. Trade if you want, but if the guys that remain don’t start playing up to their abilities, it won’t matter. The key is getting the guys to step up. Arvi needs to get back to being the nuisance he’s been in years past. I believe in them, but it’s a steep hill to climb.
I don’t think Arvi is 100% recovered from the injury he suffered on Bortuzzo’s cross-check. He hasn’t been himself since he came back