Which veteran Nashville Predator are you looking for more out of during the 2010-2011 season?

by Dirk Hoag on Sep 3, 2010 3:42 PM EDT in Discussions

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Poll

Which veteran Nashville Predator are you looking for more out of in this 2010-2011 season?

J.P. Dumont

50 votes

Martin Erat

85 votes

Kevin Klein

15 votes

David Legwand

84 votes

Pekka Rinne

10 votes

Steve Sullivan

26 votes

Ryan Suter

2 votes

Shea Weber

20 votes

other

4 votes

296 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

The short answer is always Legwand, but after JP’s slide in PT at the end of the season, he might take over the # 1 answer slot. I hope he earns more time on the ice. Also, specifically, Erat needs to shoot the puck a whole lot more.

by Preds On The Glass on Sep 3, 2010 3:51 PM EDT reply actions

Shocking that Leggy is leading the race early, with Spinderella close/tied. Sully and JP are just as needed to step up as 10 and 11.

by HartnellsMop on Sep 3, 2010 4:01 PM EDT reply actions

Round up the Usual Suspects

While everyone knows this will be a comment section filled with the following:
- more offensive from Legs
- less spinaromas from Erat
- more shots from JP

I am going to offer a different guy. Joel Ward. Yes, I realize that he battled injuries for most of the 09-10 season, but we need more offense out of Ward. Legs takes the blame, but Ward played on the same line as 11 and didn’t produce as many goals as 08-09. We need more than 17 goals out of Ward this year. While my preference would be to trade Smithers and the dman that doesn’t make the top 7, which would allow Spaling or Kostitsyn to play on the line with Legs and Ward. Simply put: Spaling has more offensive ability than Smithers while still bringing the same defensive responsibility and younger legs. Ward has to bring more offense to the table just as everyone will say Legs does and I think this can be achieved with more offensive abilities on the opposite wing.

BTW, how is Pekka a vet now? He has never been handed a #1 job before. Some will argue that he was last year, but Ellis was around. They were 1A and 1B last year. Hard to say Peks is a vet when he has not had a full season as a #1 before.

by wrandsw on Sep 3, 2010 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

I call Pekka a vet because he’s 27 years old, entering his 3rd full season in Nashville and 6th in North American professional hockey. The training wheels are off…

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by Dirk Hoag on Sep 3, 2010 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I agree – just because this will be his first year as a full time starter doesn’t mean he hasn’t been around the block.

by Chris Burton on Sep 3, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Fair enough. We can agree to disagree. However, I do agree that the training wheels are off.

by wrandsw on Sep 3, 2010 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree

Last season we saw Ward lose time on the PP to Hornqvist (for good reason) but Joel is a deceptively talented guy and was used (maybe because of his injury) a little less than he should have been. I feel like he’d be the most successful on a grinding/cycling sort of line and less so on a “speed” line. If you put his excellent puck possession skills on a line with Leggy and a more talented forward than Smithers I guarantee you’d see his numbers go up. The onus isn’t really on Joel, he works as hard as he can every shift, it’s on the coaching staff to make sure they’re getting the most they can out of him.

by Tim P on Sep 3, 2010 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I’ll go with Erat. He puts up some points, but you’re always left feeling like he could do more. I’d like to see more shots from Marty – his snap shot is pretty effective if he’ll actually use it.

by Chris Burton on Sep 3, 2010 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

Klein

Surprised there aren’t more votes for him. Considering we all know he can be good and might actually have a chance this year with Ham-Head out of the picture.

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by Poiju on Sep 3, 2010 6:40 PM EDT reply actions

Weber

NOT to say that he has been underperforming. But he’s got the “C”, he’s in a contract year, and the owners are going to pay him more than any Predator has ever made in order to make him a franchise player. 08-09 can’t turn out to be his career high year.

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by PredHead on Sep 3, 2010 7:03 PM EDT reply actions

Rinne

since the #1 job is officially his, we need him to prove that he is up to carrying the team through 60+ games.

"It's gonna be fun on the bun."

by flyalder on Sep 3, 2010 7:03 PM EDT reply actions

JP

Since Arnott is gone, JP shouldn’t be used as the scapegoat anymore. He has the talent to put up 50-60 plus points. On the correct line, say with Erat and Lombardi, that could be a superlative scoring line given all the scoring talent on the line.

by HardCorePredFan316 on Sep 3, 2010 7:45 PM EDT reply actions

All of the above?

I think you could make a case for just about everyone on the list, well except Suter. He does what he does well, and I don’t except a lot more goal-oriented production out of him.

I personally voted for Leggy: Let’s see that playoff form year-round, dude!

by DonBorvio on Sep 3, 2010 8:49 PM EDT reply actions

Ditto

JP needs to shoot more and be more aggressive. if he gets the minutes i think he will step forward, at least somewhat. sully needs to play every game like he played the playoff games. same for leggy.klein cant be paired w/ hammer anymore, nuff said. suter needs to not have the multi month goal drought he had last year. rinne needs to be the 1st number 1 to actually play that way AFTER they earned the spot. erat needs to spend every on ice moment trying to redeem himself for the most idiotic pass….EVER. weber needs to not hit OUR players.

by predswilrule on Sep 3, 2010 9:51 PM EDT up reply actions