This is a look at the Nashville Predators 2022-23 line projections. It will cover all forward lines, defence pairings, goaltenders, and scratches.
Lineup Projections
F
Filip Forsberg – Mikael Granlund – Matt Duchene
Eeli Tolvanen – Ryan Johansen – Nino Niederreiter
Tanner Jeannot – Colton Sissons – Philip Tomasino
Yakov Trenin – Cody Glass – Zach Sanford
S- Micahel McCarron, Mark Jankowski
D
Roman Josi – Dante Fabbro
Ryan McDonagh – Mattias Ekholm
Jeremy Lauzon – Alexandre Carrier
S- Mark Borowiecki
G
Juuse Saros
Kevin Lankinen
Forwards
Forsberg and Duchene both had career years and franchise best seasons for the Predators last season. They are undoubtedly the top forwards on the team and will once again play together and on the first line. Granlund is an underrated piece of that line who is a great playmaker. That ability helps the other two score goals as they will need to once again this season.
Johansen and Niederreiter are locks for the second line, but the third spot on that line and the only undetermined spot in the top-six will be up for grabs. Tolvanen should get a great shot as the 2017 first round pick needs to have a breakout season. It will allow him to be in a position to succeed as well as keep some scoring forwards on the third line to really spread the wealth.
Tomasino and Jeannot will both be in contention for that top-six spot and may very well get it. But having both on the third line will make the Predators’ forward group feel very deep. Tomasino and Jeannot were both rookies who had very underrated seasons. Tomasino will without a doubt be bumped up from the fourth line with how he produced.
Glass has reached a very important time in his career. He must stick around with the Predators in the NHL or the team risks losing him to waivers. He is still young and has room to grow, but played just eight games in the NHL last season. He will be battling with McCarron for fourth line centre minutes and will have to prove he has some scoring ability. Trenin and Sanford will top off that fourth line well as they can add both scoring and physicality.
Defence
Nashville’s defence got stronger as they brought in McDonagh and all of his experience. Not only that, the veteran defenceman brings Stanley Cup pedigree and stellar two-way play on the back-end which could either help a younger defenceman or create a shutdown pairing with Ekholm. I think it will be both throughout the season. Both Carrier and Fabbro are great young defencemen while Lauzon also has potential as a third pairing defender.
The Predators are very high on Fabbro and should pair him with Josi on the top pair. Though Carrier deserves top-four minutes, the arrival of McDonagh makes it so one of Carrier, McDonagh, or Ekholm play on the third pair. As Carrier is the youngest and most inexperienced of the three, he is the likely choice. There is still no certainty that Fabbro earns the spot on the top pairing and Carrier could once again spend some time there after a great season.
Goaltending
Saros is undoubtedly one of the best goaltenders in the league and will be the starter. He had an excellent season in 2021-22 but his injury for playoffs didn’t help the Predator’s chances of challenging the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1. He is going to come back just as strong and his backup, Lankinen, will get a better chance in front of a much stronger defence group than he had in Chicago.
What do you think about the Nashville Predators 2022-23 line projections? What would you change?
Related: Stat Hockey’s Montreal Canadiens 2022-23 Line Projections
I think you nailed the lines exactly right, as well as some of the options like Fabbro and Carrier switching places. I hope Hynes lets the lines stay together, instead of making frequent changes like he and Laviolette have done in past seasons. The value of knowing your linemates’ movements and tendencies cannot be overstated, and we too often disrupt the lines instead of letting them grow and improve together as units.
Special teams will be a huge determining factor this season (as in most seasons), because we have been absolutely horrible over long stretches of games on both the PP and the PK. We are much too predictable against good teams.
Another skill that our younger players must learn to do better is taking one-timers. In lower leagues it’s not so important, but at the NHL level, catching the puck before shooting it gives the D and the goalies just that extra second to deflect the puck or make a block or a save. The best scorers in the league have a lot of their success because they can one-time the puck.