<p><em>A team&#8217;s biggest rivals might be the teams in their own division, but eventually the eight teams on the other side of the conference will factor in too. Last month, we looked at all seven team in the Pacific and how stiff the competition will be in the Canucks&#8217; quest to repeat as division champions. Over the course of this week, we&#8217;ll be looking at last year&#8217;s top four Central Division teams &#8211; the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets &#8211; and next season&#8217;s race for top spot in the Western Conference. Today we&#8217;re starting in Music City with the Predators.</em></p>
<p>The alternate title for this article could&#8217;ve been &#8220;How Arturs Silovs broke the Nashville Predators and made them spenders.&#8221;</p>
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<p>After the Predators&#8217; miraculous late-season run to the playoffs, they were quickly snuffed out by Silovs and a Canucks defence that largely held them off the scoresheet in the six-game set. So it makes sense that Nashville&#8217;s offseason priority was going to be finding more of a scoring punch beyond Filip Forsberg, even if he did set the franchise single-season goals record last year.</p>
<p>But somehow, against all odds, they found the best solutions possible.</p>
<p>Nashville landing both Steven Stamkos<em> and</em> Jonathan Marchessault in free agency and being July 1&#8217;s biggest winners was on absolutely no one&#8217;s bingo card, expect for maybe GM Barry Trotz. Stamkos and Marchessault give the Predators a pair of 40-goal scorers, both extremely welcome additions to a team that&#8217;s second best scorers in 2023-24 had just 23 (Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist). Marchessault is just a season removed from winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, while Stamkos has proven that he can contribute no amount of injuries can keep a future Hall of Famer from being a lethal scorer.</p>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Stamkos describes roller coaster of emotions after leaving Tampa to sign with Nashville" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CG2Z8edxPOU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>The Predators defence remains an extremely veteran laden group lead by Josi, who remains one of the NHL&#8217;s premier defenders at age 34. For context, the youngest member of the Preds&#8217; defence is 26-year-old Coquitlam native Dante Fabbro. And despite an off year, goaltender Juuse Saros is still Nashville&#8217;s great equalizer against tough opponents.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no doubt that Nashville will be a much stronger team heading into this season, but the gap between them and the top of the Central Division is still pretty large. The Avalanche and Stars both have depth on their sides that the Predators can&#8217;t match, which likely leaves them in a battle with the Jets for the third playoff spot in the division. If Andrew Brunette&#8217;s coaching can provide the same x-factor it did down the stretch last season, the Predators have a very good shot at taking the Central&#8217;s last spot.</p>
<p>But compared to the Canucks, not much has changed since their first round matchup. While the Preds are certainly better prepared on the offensive side of the puck, the Canucks have levels of youth and depth on their side that still give them the edge. Both defensive groups take similar approaches to keep scoring chances away from the net, but as long as Thatcher Demko is playing at peak performance, the Canucks are the clear favourite head-to-head.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s just hope there are fewer shot blocks when these two face off in 2024-25.</p>
<h3>Standings Prediction</h3>
<p>3rd place in the Central, 6th place in the Western Conference</p>
<h3>Season Series</h3>
<p>November 17 @ Rogers Arena</p>
<p>January 3 @ Rogers Arena</p>
<p>January 29 @ Bridgestone Arena</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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<em>A team's biggest rivals might be the teams in their own division, but eventually the eight teams on the other side of the conference will factor in too. Last month, we looked at all seven team in the Pacific and how stiff the competition will be in the Canucks' quest to repeat as division champions. Over the course of this week, we'll be looking at last year's top four Central Division teams - the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets - and next season's race for top spot in the Western Conference. Today we're starting in Music City with the Predators.</em>

The alternate title for this article could've been "How Arturs Silovs broke the Nashville Predators and made them spenders."
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After the Predators' miraculous late-season run to the playoffs, they were quickly snuffed out by Silovs and a Canucks defence that largely held them off the scoresheet in the six-game set. So it makes sense that Nashville's offseason priority was going to be finding more of a scoring punch beyond Filip Forsberg, even if he did set the franchise single-season goals record last year.

But somehow, against all odds, they found the best solutions possible.

Nashville landing both Steven Stamkos<em> and</em> Jonathan Marchessault in free agency and being July 1's biggest winners was on absolutely no one's bingo card, expect for maybe GM Barry Trotz. Stamkos and Marchessault give the Predators a pair of 40-goal scorers, both extremely welcome additions to a team that's second best scorers in 2023-24 had just 23 (Roman Josi and Gustav Nyquist). Marchessault is just a season removed from winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, while Stamkos has proven that he can contribute no amount of injuries can keep a future Hall of Famer from being a lethal scorer.

https://youtu.be/CG2Z8edxPOU?si=yC-vFQgBu7Cha-H0

The Predators defence remains an extremely veteran laden group lead by Josi, who remains one of the NHL's premier defenders at age 34. For context, the youngest member of the Preds' defence is 26-year-old Coquitlam native Dante Fabbro. And despite an off year, goaltender Juuse Saros is still Nashville's great equalizer against tough opponents.

There's no doubt that Nashville will be a much stronger team heading into this season, but the gap between them and the top of the Central Division is still pretty large. The Avalanche and Stars both have depth on their sides that the Predators can't match, which likely leaves them in a battle with the Jets for the third playoff spot in the division. If Andrew Brunette's coaching can provide the same x-factor it did down the stretch last season, the Predators have a very good shot at taking the Central's last spot.

But compared to the Canucks, not much has changed since their first round matchup. While the Preds are certainly better prepared on the offensive side of the puck, the Canucks have levels of youth and depth on their side that still give them the edge. Both defensive groups take similar approaches to keep scoring chances away from the net, but as long as Thatcher Demko is playing at peak performance, the Canucks are the clear favourite head-to-head.

Let's just hope there are fewer shot blocks when these two face off in 2024-25.
<h3>Standings Prediction</h3>
3rd place in the Central, 6th place in the Western Conference
<h3>Season Series</h3>
November 17 @ Rogers Arena

January 3 @ Rogers Arena

January 29 @ Bridgestone Arena

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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