GDHQNHL15_2pg-Nashville Predators 2

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Star defender led the Predators in points last year with 56 (23 goals, 33 assists), making him one of three defensemen to lead their teams in points, the others being Erik Karlsson for the Ottawa Senators and Keith Yandle for the Phoenix Coyotes. With a focus on a more offensive-style of play, Weber could be primed for a career year this season. Weber isn’t the only player of note in this group. Weber’s defensive partner Roman Josi has blossomed into a top-pair defenseman in the league. Coming off of a campaign where he put up 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists), the future looks bright for the Swiss-born Josi. Playing with the Norris-caliber Weber has shown an uptick in his offensive production. At only 24-years old, the Predators are hoping he takes the next step in his development and becomes a household name around the league. Josi isn’t the only young blue-liner to patrol the back end of the Nashville defense. Another player to keep an eye on this season is second-year player Seth Jones. At 19-years old, Jones shows enough promise to be a potential top-pair two-way defenseman in the league for many years to come. In his inaugural season, Jones had six goals and 19 assists. While he still needs to understand the nuances of playing in his own end, there is still a lot to like about this young player. Goaltending Pekka Rinne was limited to only 24 games last season after he underwent surgery to repair his hip from infection during the season. After missing the playoffs by only three points, the Predators are hoping that a healthy Rinne will allow them to make the post-season for the first time in two years. The 6-5 Rinne is a huge presence in the net. When healthy, Rinne is one of the elite goaltenders in the league. In 2011-12, Rinne had 43 wins, a goals-against average of 2.39 and a save percentage of .923. If Rinne can return to form, then the Predators have a legitimate shot to crack the top four of the Central Division and make a return to the postseason. Carter Hutton filled-in admirably for the injured Rinne and impressed enough to be a nice security blanket should anything happen to the Finn this year. Hutton, in 40 games played, had 20 wins, a goalsagainst average of 2.62 and a save percentage of .910. Power-Play Despite having a revamped lineup, the Nashville Predators should have the potential for a top-ten power-play unit. Even with all of their scoring issues, the Predators finished 12th in the league last year as they converted 19.2 percent of their power-play opportunities. With a whole new cast of characters, the Predators have the ability to improve on their standing. With Shea Weber manning the point, the unit will have some continuity and a big playmaker to run the play through. To say Weber was productive on the power-play is an understatement. Of his 56 points, nearly half (26 points) came from being on the man-advantage. Even with the roster turnover that the team will experience this year, a lot more of the same can be expected out of the 29 year-old captain. Penalty-Kill With a team that has focused so much on the defensive zone for almost their entire existence in the NHL; the expectation would be that having a good penalty kill would be second nature. Over the last two seasons, this thought has not proven to be the case. The Predators have finished 29th and 25th in back-to-back seasons. That ranking does not begin to tell the story. In the strike-shortened 2013 season, the team killed only 75.7 percent of penalties and had only a slight improvement in 2013-14 with an 80.3 percent success rate. A big help to the penalty-kill will be the return of Pekka Rinne in goal. If Rinne can return to pre-surgery form, the shorthanded unit will be all the better for it. Prediction Playing in one of the toughest divisions in the NHL and adjusting to a new head coach is not a recipe for success. The Predators will be better in 2014-15 as long as older players perform as expected, but they will be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the year. Scoreboard 2013-14 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 PLAYOFF FINISH DNQ DNQ Conf SF Conf SF Conf QF REGULAR SEASON 38-32-12 16-23-9 48-26-8 44-27-11 47-29-6 POINT TOTAL 88 41 104 99 100 SHOOTOUT RECORD 2-9 2-6 5-5 6-4 8-4 GOALS SCORED 216 111 237 219 225 GOALS ALLOWED 242 139 210 194 225 POWER PLAY % 19.2 17.1 21.6 15.2 16.4 PENALTY KILL % 80.3 75.7 83.6 85.0 77.1 James Neal Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images


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