Nashville Predators Season Preview

[UTVolCountry]

2011-12 Season Preview - Nashville Predators - Features

NHL.com: As Preds try to move forward, depth will be tested

In many ways, the 2010-11 season was a high point in the history of the Nashville Predators.

For the first time in the organization's 13-year history, they made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That achievement came courtesy of a thrilling six-game victory against the higher-seeded Anaheim Ducks.

Unfortunately, the euphoria lasted just two weeks, as the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks used an unforgettable series from Ryan Kesler to advance to the Western Conference Finals with a six-game victory against the Preds.

So while there was obvious joy at advancing past another hurdle -- the Predators had lost the previous five first-round series they contested -- there was also a period of introspection caused by the what-ifs that follow any hard-fought loss in the playoffs.

So while there was obvious joy at advancing past another hurdle -- the Predators had lost the previous five first-round series they contested -- there was also a period of introspection caused by the what-ifs that follow any hard-fought loss in the playoffs.

Interesting fact: Trotz, who has been the Predators' only bench boss, holds the NHL record for most games coached by a team’s original coach since the League's first expansion in 1967. Trotz is currently the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL behind Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff.

Could the Predators have won the Western Conference Finals if they had found a way to hold off the Canucks? We'll never know, but the bar has certainly been raised considerably by the very existence of that tantalizing possibility.

It's a development that will be welcomed with open arms by General Manager David Poile and coach Barry Trotz, who have been building to just such a scenario throughout their tenure in Music City.

After all, there is no denying that the Predators have the defensive framework to be a tough out in the postseason. Nashville has a still-emerging star goalie in Vezina Trophy finalist Pekka Rinne. The Predators also have perhaps the best one-two punch on defense in the League in the dynamic Shea Weber and the equally effective Ryan Suter.

Now it just becomes a matter of surrounding that unquestioned core with the proper support pieces.

Have the Predators done so this offseason? That remains to be seen.

 

[UTVolCountry]

...

OUTLOOK

The Predators may have lost more players than they gained this summer, but if any organization was built to withstand such a transition it is Nashville.

The Predators boast a rock-solid foundation that is anchored by its three young game-breakers -- Weber, Suter and Rinne, the latter of whom won 33 games last season and posted a 2.12 goals-against average, and is the old man of that troika at just 28.

The Predators also have some solid complementary pieces to add to the equation.

Martin Erat, the team's co-leading scorer last season despite missing 18 games with a back injury, has proven to be capable of 20 goals and 50-plus points in a given year. Kostitsyn proved last season that he is in the same neighborhood as well.

Patric Hornqvist regressed a bit from his breakout season in 2009-10, but is still considered a dynamic player. Veteran David Legwand, the institutional memory of the Predators, is still an offensive threat. Center Colin Wilson and defenseman Kevin Klein are others actively trying to bull their way into the conversation about Nashville's dynamic core of young players.

Plus, the Predators still have Trotz, the only coach the franchise has known. No matter the players, the underrated Trotz -- who was up for the Jack Adams Trophy again last season -- squeezes the most possible out of the lineup he is handed.