Another team that has defied all the odds this season is the Nashville Predators. Like the Coyotes out in Phoenix, the Predators have plenty of off-ice issues, and have one of the lowest payrolls in the league. That hasn’t stopped Nashville from putting together a very good season, and you won’t find many teams happy to play them in the playoffs.
Offense: C
The Predators don’t have a single player over 50 points at the time of this writing, but like Phoenix, every single one of their regular players has at least 10 points. They also have 9 players with 10 or more goals, led by young Patric Hornqvist, who broke out this year with 30 goals. Fan favorite Steve Sullivan leads the team with 34 assists, and is one of the hardest working players in the league. Never a team to fall asleep on, the Preds can get scoring from just about anyone on their bench,and that can be especially dangerous come playoff time.
Defense: B The Predators rank right in the middle of the league when it comes to goals allowed, but they have some of the best unknown young defenders in the game today. Shea Weber made sure everyone knew his name after the Olympics, and his combination of tough physical play and that cannon of a shot he has make him very valuable. Ryan Suter, Dan Hamhuis and Cody Franson are all solid in their own end, and the addition of Denis Grebeshkov gives the Predators a very good puck-mover on the blueline.
Goaltending: C+ For much of the season, Nashville’s goaltending duties were shared by Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne, but Rinne came into his own late in the year, and had a clutch 6 game win streak in the middle of March that put the Predators’ playoff chances in a pretty secure place. Rinne will be the starter going into the playoffs, but Ellis is more than capable of filling in should he be unable to perform up to expectations.
Special Teams: D- A couple areas that could haunt the Predators in the postseason is their powerplay and penalty kill, with their penalty kill being the primary concern. Their 76.7% success rate in killing penalties is tied for 2nd last in the league, with only the hapless Maple Leafs holding a worse record with a man in the box. Thankfully, the Predators are one of the least penalized teams in the league, and it would serve them well to maintain that discipline in the playoffs. Their powerplay is a little bit better, but they still rank in the bottom 3rd of the league with the man advantage.