Each week, we break down the highs and lows of Nashville Predators hockey; we assign “plusses” to the players, lines, coaches, concepts, etc. whose stock is trending upwards, and “minuses” to those who have some improvements to work on.
Let’s jump into this week’s list!
Plus: Ryan O’Reilly
It’s been a fun week for O’Reilly. On Tuesday, he played in his 1,000th NHL game. On Saturday, he scored a hat trick in Nashville’s 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, his second multi-goal game in a week. For the record, O’Reilly had just one multi-goal game during the entire 2022-23 season.
Saturday’s four-point performance gives O’Reilly seven points in his past four games. It also puts him into the team lead for goals with seven, and moved him right behind Filip Forsberg for the team lead in points (Forsberg has 12, O’Reilly 11.) At his current scoring pace, O’Reilly would wind up setting career-highs in both categories.
Now, if you were a betting person, would I advise you to throw money down on this level of hot scoring continuing throughout the year? Eh… probably not. But O’Reilly jumping right out of the gate and shouldering a lot of the scoring burden early in the season is exactly what the Preds needed out of their veteran free agent signing. O’Reilly scoring at a top-line pace takes pressure off of players like Tommy Novak, Luke Evangelista, and Juuso Parssinen. And of course, this isn’t even including O’Reilly’s off-ice contributions to the Preds locker room, something Andrew Brunette and others have gone out of their way to praise.
It’s still early. But it’s safe to say the O’Reilly signing is already proving to be one of the better moves of the NHL Offseason.
Minus: Samuel Fagemo
We’re only three weeks removed from Fagemo’s highlight-reel debut with the Predators, in which the waiver pickup scored a beautiful goal that made Preds fans wonder if the team had finally found their long-missing pure shooter.
Unfortunately, that goal has been the lone highlight of Fagemo’s Nashville tenure so far, mainly because he hasn’t had a lot of chances to make highlights. Fagemo has played in just three games since his debut on October 21st, and his two most recent appearances — this week’s losses to Vancouver and Seattle — left a lot to be desired. He was once again relegated to a healthy scratch Saturday.
Compounding the issue is that fellow waiver pickup, Liam Foudy, has shown some steady improvement since first drawing into the Preds lineup last week, and the latter seems to have a bit more solid chemistry with the Preds’ current 4C, Juuso Parssinen. If Foudy indeed locks up a spot on the bottom six, Fagemo may struggle getting enough consistent minutes to really show the Preds what he can offer.
Plus: Marc Del Gaizo
Perhaps no one in the Predators’ organization entered the season with as big a chip on their shoulder as Del Gaizo. The 24-year-old defenseman talked openly about his disappointment at not being recalled by the Preds at the end of last season, and used that as motivation to revamp his game during the offseason.
That work paid off. Del Gaizo finally got his chance to play in an NHL game on Saturday. And not only did he play… he played extremely well! He recorded his first NHL point via an assist on Forsberg’s opening goal, and — along with veteran partner Tyson Barrie — did a solid job of keeping up with Edmonton’s speedy forwards.
But perhaps the best moment from Del Gaizo’s debut came after the game, when he teared up talking about thankful he was to finally realize his NHL dream.
In an age when hockey twitter is obsessed with prospect rankings, upside, and endless debates over which young players should be in the NHL, Del Gaizo’s emotions remind us that these are just people trying to accomplish their childhood dreams. Any player, especially one with Del Gaizo’s background, deserves some kudos for making it to the NHL.
Minus : “Lower Body” Injuries
Del Gaizo’s call-up was a great moment. The reason it was needed was not as pleasant. The Preds announced Ryan McDonagh suffered a lower-body injury and is currently listed as day-to-day.
If you’re getting deja vu reading that sentence, you’re not alone. The dreaded “lower body injury” has now claimed three victims on the Preds roster this season. McDonagh’s fellow blueliner, Luke Schenn, has been on the shelf since the NHL’s opening weekend, while Cody Glass has missed the past two weeks (although the latter could be on track to return soon.)
Luckily, the initial prognosis on McDonagh’s injury seems promising, and he’ll hopefully return sooner rather than later. But his absence comes at an inconvenient time for the Preds’ defensive corps. As we mentioned last week, the Preds boast one of the best statistical defenses in the entire league this season, and McDonagh’s shutdown prowess is a big part of that.
Plus: 2022-23 Predators on Rival Teams
Sometimes, the grass IS greener on the other side…
A few members of the Predators’ 2022-23 squad have found their way to various Central Division rivals over the past handful of months. And to their credit, each seem to be killing it!
Nino Niederreiter may be the hottest of the bunch. The Swiss winger had 9 points in 11 games with the Winnipeg Jets this season, including a hat trick Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes. Since being traded to the Jets at last year’s deadline, Niederreiter has a respectable 22 points in 33 games with his new team.
Then there are the two high-profile exits from Nashville that happened over the Summer, Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen. After a slow start, Duchene has caught fire with the Dallas Stars, recording points in five of his past six games. Johansen, meanwhile, has slowed down a bit after a hot start with the Colorado Avalanche, but he already has four goals with his new team.
Minus: Tank Jobs
Okay, let me get ahead of this, because I know some people are going to chime in.
Yes, I know “rebuilding” is sometimes necessary. I know that for a bad team loaded with bad contracts stuck in purgatory, the only option may be to take a step back. And… yes… I know that if you wind up with a franchise-changing #1 pick, it’s all worth it.
But folks, there’s a difference between “rebuilding” and “tanking.” And furthermore, there’s a difference between “tanking” and “whatever the San Jose Sharks are doing.”
The Sharks are beyond bad… they may be the worst team in the NHL history. They have yet to win a game one month into the season. They just became the first team since the 1960s to give up 10 or more goals in back-to-back games. As a team, they’ve scored 12 goals. Let me repeat that… AS A TEAM, THEY’VE SCORED 12 GOALS. Auston Matthews, the NHL’s leading scorer, has 11 on his own.
This of course was the Sharks’ plan heading into the offseason (albeit, they might not have envisioned the team being THIS bad.) Maybe, MAYBE it pays off in the form of Macklin Celebrini putting on a teal jersey at the 2024 NHL Draft. But the draft is eight months away; and there are still 71 games left to play before then. If you’re a fan, what’s the point of watching those games? Is there anything fun about the way the Sharks are playing? Is there any reason to get attached to any of the current players on the roster? Is there any point in spending a decent chunk of money to go out and see this team in person?
If you’re like me, who grew up obsessively turning around bad franchises to Stanley Cup glory in EA Sports GM Mode, the idea of rebuilding/tanking has become somewhat romanticized. But real-life doesn’t have a Sim option. The Sharks can’t skip ahead to the “promise land;” they, and their fans, are going to have to suffer through months, possibly years, of lackluster hockey before they get there, and that’s IF they ever get there.
Be careful what you wish for.
