The Nashville Predators come into this season with an improved roster and finally healthy goaltending. They also hired a new coach in Peter Laviolette after they fired Barry Trotz for his failures to get them to the postseason. Let's take a look at the Nashville Predators for next season.
Offense
Nashville has some good forwards going into next season. They acquired James Neal from the Penguins so he can contribute goal scoring since that's what he was known to do in Pittsburgh. He may not get 40 goals for the Predators but he may very well get 30. His linemate will most likely be Mike Ribeiro since they played together in Dallas.
He came to Nashville this season on a one year deal which could be a steal if he can stop with the bad off ice stuff. Nashville is going to suffer a huge loss though at the beginning of the season since Mike Fisher won't be available to them since he had surgery over the summer.
Colin Wilson and Matt Cullen are going to be very underrated going into this season as they both have good seasons last year for the Predators. Craig Smith is also going to be even better than he was last year when he scored 24 goals for the Predators. This has the potential to be a good group of forwards for the predators next season.
Defense
Leading Nashville's defense will be none other than Shea Weber who is one of the best defenseman in the world. He led the team in points last season with 56 and was second on the team in goals with 23. Look for him to be even better this season for the Predators. Behind him is a very young and upcoming defenseman in Seth Jones who has only been in the league for one season.
He was very good for Nashville last season as he showed that he is very capable of playing in the top four. Roman Josi is behind him and he's a very underrated defenseman in Nashville and he was actually tied for fifth on the team in points. Behind him Ryan Ellis who isn't bad either. The bottom pairing is very weak. Victor Bartley and Mattias Ekholm haven't shown much in Nashville. We'll see if they can bet better next year.
Goaltending
Nashville's starting goaltender Pekka Rinne is finally healthy after over a year of injuries. He has not been the same player once he got hurt and it really hurt the chances of Nashville making it to the playoffs last season since he missed over 50 games.
Look for Rinne to have a much better season for the Predators this season and to show the hockey world why he is one of the best goaltenders in the world. Backing him up will be Carter Hutton who won 20 games for the Predators last year and had a decent GAA in 2.62. This could be a very good goaltending duo for the Predators next season if they remain healthy.
Special Teams
The special teams for the Predators are just okay. Their power play came in at 12th this past season but their penalty kill came in at 25th which is never good. They can improve their power play this season since Nashville acquired James Neal from the Penguins.
He is a very good player on the power play and that's where he got most of his goals in Pittsburgh. The penalty kill just needs to be higher than 25th. They are going to need to clear the puck out more or block more shots like the Rangers do if they are to improve that.
Outlook for season
Nashville has a really tough season ahead of them. They are in the Central division which is the toughest division in the NHL. Because of that, I can't see them making the playoffs since there are just too many better teams such as Chicago, Colorado, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Dallas. They may be in the hunt for awhile though.