Nashville Predators 30-Game Report Cards: The Centers

We've covered the goaltenders and the defense, so now it's time to move up the middle and examine the Nashville Predators centers, now that the team has passed the 30-Game mark. Which guys are getting it done, and which ones aren't? Just follow after the jump for the latest grades...

First up, the advanced stats from Behind the Net, including a little extra prestidigitation on my part (legend at bottom). The grades, as with the others in this series, are relative to reasonable expectations for that player heading into this season.

Name	GP	TOI	CORSI	CORSI REL	Net ZS	Adj Corsi	SPCT	SVPCT	PDO	G/60	A/60	Pts/60	CORSI Rel QoC	CORSI Rel QoT
Mike Fisher	22	15.2	-10.25	-8.00	-25	-5.30	10.1	931	1032	0.90	1.08	1.98	+1.44	+2.86
Blake Geoffrion	19	8.9	-16.01	-4.80	-41	+0.05	5.2	965	1018	0.00	0.72	0.72	-1.13	-2.50
David Legwand	26	13.8	-1.17	+11.40	-32	+4.72	8.4	914	999	0.67	0.67	1.34	+1.07	+5.51
Craig Smith	30	13.0	-9.27	+0.10	-7	-8.08	9.4	922	1017	0.62	1.39	2.01	+1.38	+1.21
Jerred Smithson	30	10.6	-23.51	-18.20	-94	-3.91	8.0	920	1000	0.19	0.19	0.38	+0.49	-2.85
Nick Spaling	25	13.1	-14.87	-7.90	-45	-5.79	7.5	924	1000	0.73	0.73	1.46	+0.71	-2.86

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Much like Legwand in years past, Fisher's presence in the lineup isn't so much about putting up eye-popping numbers as it is shoring up the team's depth chart and pushing less experienced or talented players back down to the 3rd or 4th lines. He hasn't done much on the power play yet despite getting more than 2 minutes per game there, and his 5-on-5 possession numbers could stand quite a bit of improvement.

The biggest question going forward with Fisher is whether his surgically repaired shoulder continues to strengthen, along with his overall game, or whether other injuries undermine his performance as they've done in the past.

Grade: B

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This season just never got rolling for Geoffrion offensively, but I will say in his defense that he got stuck with a difficult workload (look at those Zone Starts), and handled that burden relatively well. He has to find a way to drive the play more aggressively, however, as 7 shots on goal in 19 games makes even Sergei Kostitsyn look shot-happy. That team on-ice shooting percentage of 5.2 looks more like poor puck luck than anything else (although of course he rarely had gifted offensive linemates to work with). In a secondary role on the penalty kill, he also managed to go 19 games without a goal being scored against him in 4-on-5 play.

So I'll hold out hope that after a few weeks in Milwaukee, he gets another chance with the big club, as I'd like to see what he could do with higher-quality linemates.

Grade: C-

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Leggy is getting the job done as a true two-way center, pushing the flow positively in 5-on-5 (once you adjust for those negative Zone Starts) and leading the surge on the Predators' power play, too. The only negatives so far are some poor PK results in the early going.

Grade: A-

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Offensively, the Honey Badger has been a revelation. He leads the Nashville forwards in shots on goal, and seems to add some zip to whichever line he plays with on a given night. As a rookie, however, he still has aspects of his game that will take a while to round into shape. There are some adventures in the defensive zone when he's out there, but the offensive contributions are too great to be ignored. If he didn't come out of nowhere to lead this team in scoring, just imagine how things would look.

Yes, I know he's been moved around quite a bit, but I included him with the centers for this piece.

Grade: A

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Smitty's doing what he always does - winning faceoffs, killing penalties, and blocking shots. I have to wonder if some of those thumpers are taking their toll, however, as there have been times that he looks like he's laboring out there.

Grade: B

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I know there was talk from Preds management about Spaling developing into a Top 6 forward this season, but I just don't see it happening any time soon. The penalty killing isn't there yet this season, and he's not faring well in 5-on-5, either. He could have a fine career as a 3rd- or 4th-liner, so this grade is a particularly tricky one. Where does one set the expectation here?

Grade: C+

Legend
CORSI	The balance of Total Shots For & Against per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 while this player is on the ice.
CORSI REL	The difference between the team's Corsi when this player is on the ice, and when he's on the bench.
Net ZS	How often a player's shift starts in the Offensive Zone minus the Defensive.
Adj Corsi	Corsi adjusted for Zone Starts. Each marginal start at either end of the ice is adjusted by 1.1 Corsi events.
SPCT	Team Shooting Percentage while this player is on the ice in 5-on-5.
SVPCT	Team Save Percentage while this player is on the ice in 5-on-5.
PDO	SPCT + SVPCT, this trends strongly towards 1000. Extreme values are typically signs of "puck luck".
G/60	Goals scored by this player per 60 minutes of 5-on-5.
A/60	Assists by this player per 60 minutes of 5-on-5.
Pts/60	Points by this player per 60 minutes of 5-on-5.
CORSI Rel QoC	Quality of Competition calculated using Relative Corsi.
CORSI Rel QoT	Quality of Teammates calculated using Relative Corsi.