READING, PA – With the recent trades of Jason Arnott and Dan Hamhuis, the Nashville Predators head into the off-season with more questions than answers, which is odd considering the Preds had another solid season but financial issues once again lifted their ugly in the light of recent trades. Last season the Preds were 8th overall in the league standings, 18th in offense, 14th in defense, 20th in face-offs, 24th on the power play, and 28th on the penalty kill. Most of the team’s offense came from the wing positions, four of the top five scorers on the team were wingers, led by Patric Hornquist and Steve Sullivan. Nashville had only one 30 goal scorer (Hornquist), and one goal scorer with more than 20 (Martin Erat), and had seven players with over 10 goals.
On defense Cory Franson was a plus 15 and four other defensemen were all a positive in the plus/minus category. Hamhuis, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber were considered the backbone of the blueline, but Jon Blum could be the one who fills in the spot vacated by Hamhuis . In goal the Preds were led by Pekke Rinne and Dan Ellis but Ellis is a free agent and you can bet some teams will be knocking on his door come July 1. Still the Predators have Chet Pickard in the system. Needless to say the Preds don’t have any one specific position of need but the loss of Arnott should be felt more so than Hamhuis overall. Nashville does a great job of scouting and you can bet they will once again make the right choice for their organization come draft day. Considering how the PHN mock draft is shaping up the Preds could with either Tyler Toffoli or Nick Bjugstad. Both are goal scorers but Bjugstad is more of a power forward than Toffoli is. That is something the Predators must consider before picking either one. Bjugstad is also coming out of high school hockey where Toffoli already played two years of major juniors in the OHL. Since Nashville needs someone sooner than later we expect to hear these words come draft day.
“With the 18th pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the Nashville Predators select, from the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League, center Tyler Toffoli.”
To learn more about Tyler Toffoli click on his name.
Contact the author at Brian.jennings@prohockeynews.com
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