We broke down the defense and the goaltending. The 2017/18 post-mortem continues with a look at the Predators forwards. The theme of a stark difference between regular season and playoffs continue.
Health - The forwards remained relatively healthy in 2017/18, games missed were minimal but injury recovery was a health story for this team. It took Ryan Johansen longer than expected to recover from his offseason surgery, it appeared to take him most of the first half of the season to get his confidence back, but once he did, he was outstanding. Kevin Fiala also took a month or so in order to get his game back after breaking his leg in the 2017 playoffs. Nick Bonino also had offseason surgery that limited his training camp and it showed in his game as well. A few minor injuries cost Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok and Kyle Turris a few game seach but health was certainly not an issue for this group.
Rankings - This was a top ten offense in 2017/18… top ten in goals per game, face off win % and shootout wins (believe it or not.) Not a single forward made the top 50 in the NHL for points but the Preds “score by committee” approach landed 5 players in the second 50 including Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson and Johansen. The JoFA line was dominant for most of the season and performed well in the playoffs as well. The FiST line was excellent in the first half of the season, but fell off in the second and almost disappeared in the playoffs. Kyle Turris struggled at time in the second half after an outstanding first six weeks with the team when he was acquired in November. Kevin FIala and Craig Smith both had solid seasons, Smith had a career year in goal scoring.
Strengths - Forward depth, especially at center… when the top two lines are clicking, it gives coaches fits in scheming against this team. Another strength is this team is the balance between youth and experience. Johansen, Turris, Bonino, Arvidsson all have real depth of experience, then you have youth like FIala, Ryan Hartman and Eeli Tolvanen and a few prospects bubbling under in Milwaukee like Freddie Gaudreau and Yakov Trenin. Another strength of this offense (and the team) is their resiliency… they simply never believed they were out of a game as they came back time after time in the regular season to win games they had no business winning.
Opportunities - A nasty habit of going cold at the wrong time, an occasional reticence to shoot the puck (as evidenced their 15 ranking in shots per game) and a tendency to try and do a little too much instead of allowing the game to come to them. One of their largest opportunities is an overused strength. Their belief they are never out of a game. It is my opinion that confidence led to slow starts and a less than optimal playoff performance. Resiliency is a delicate balance, one that the Predators, as an offense and as a team, struggled with last season.
Intangibles - The confidence and resiliency of this group is amazing and something that is hard to teach… using it correctly is important. The other strong intangible is the way this team likes each other, gets along with each other. You could see it in the pregame warmups, the smiles, the clowning around, they keep each other loose. Chemestry is hard, and this team has it.
Grades - This team earns a solid A for their offense in the regular season, a C- for the playoffs. Figuring out how to relax just a little bit and not try to do too much will be a key to success going forward.
Next up… the coaching and leadership
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Random Notes
- Former Pred James Neal signed in Calgary, five years for $28.75 million dollars, ending speculation that Neal may return to Nashville. Reasonable dollars, way too much term for an almost 31 year old forward with declining stats.
- Attention now turns from UFA’s to RFA’s for Nashville as the team needs to resign Ryan Hartman, Juuse Saros and Miikka Salomaki…
- and don’t forget about extending Ryan Ellis… the John Tavares saga just confirmed how important that can be.
- Nashville has approximately 12.5 million in cap space for next season.
- UFA Anthony Duclair is still available… could be an interesting player for a David Poile special… y’know, the $1 million, 1 year “prove it” contract…
- Joe Thornton extended for one more year in San Jose.
- Petr Mrazek has signed in Carolina. His latest “new start” team.
- Finally… Antoine Roussel is out of the Central… the Dallas pest is now a Vancouver pest. Well… someone had to take Alex Burrows’ place…
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