Predatory Thinking

Nashville Predators

Controversy over Radulov notwithstanding (something I'll address in the team previews once the situation gets a little clearer) Nashville is a team in flux.

They have a lot of talent, more then you probably realize, particularly on D. However the Predators just lack that scoring punch up front. If Steve Sullivan is healthy this year, well that might change things. I'm getting ahead of myself though.

About the only significant things that happened here in the offseason were the resolving of some controversies in goal and on D. By allowing Chris Mason to walk Nashville has made Dan Ellis the presumptive number one goalie. This was the right choice. Ellis was the better of the two goalies for the entire season, winning 23 of his 44 starts and posting a 2.39 GAA and .924 Sv. %. Its unknown whether Ellis will be able to carry these numbers across a full season as last years 44 games make up the majority of his 45 game career. With no significant competition Ellis is definitely the number 1, just beware of a sophmore slump and try to trade him while his value remains high.

Zidlicky's departure also signals a shift to the promotion of the talented young D-corps. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter should both see polite bumps in their production as a result.