We’re shorthanded this week, so Bryan Pyrtle of our sister site Category Five Hockey has kindly stepped in with a great breakdown of what the Preds have to offer on the blue line–always a hot topic.
Despite a lackluster season on offense, Nashville produced one of the league’s better defensive units in 2022-23. Now the Preds enter the new season looking to build on their bread and butter of consistent defense, though it’s their first full season without Mattias Ekholm.
The Predators enjoy a lot of stability on the blue line with Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh inked through 2028 and 2026, respectively. Tyson Barrie, brought over in the Mattias Ekholm trade last season, rounds out the trio of higher-profile defenders with one more year on his contract.
How these three blueliners are assigned to defensive pairings will heavily influence the quality of Nashville’s defense in 2023-24. Josi and McDonagh played well while paired together last season, but putting both of your main left-handers on the same pairing can create opportunities for the opposition to maximize their advantages facing lefties versus righties in-game.
Andrew Brunette could still stick with putting his two best defenders, Josi and McDonagh, on the top pairing regardless of handedness. Josi–McDonagh saw the most TOI of any of Nashville’s defensive pairings last season and didn’t show any glaring issues executing on the ice.
If Brunette prefers to spread the southpaws out, Tyson Barrie could join Josi on the top pairing as the Preds’ best RD, while McDonagh would provide a ton of quality on the second pairing with another right-hander. However, neither Barrie–Josi nor Barrie–McDonagh showed much promise in limited appearances last season (both hovered around 4:38 TOI/G), so keeping Josi and McDonagh together still seems like the best choice. Barrie may have more chemistry with his partners this time around, having had a full offseason to familiarize himself with their play, but if Josi–McDonagh ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Outside of the top pairing, Nashville possesses an interesting mix of veterans and youngsters it can mix and match as the season progresses.
Dante Fabbro enters his sixth season in Nashville looking for a bounceback season. He broke out in 2021-22 with a career-high 24 points, but fell back to Earth last season with an 11-point campaign. Fabbro brings a lot of offensive tenacity to the ice, providing an explosiveness that can energize the team, while the veteran presence of somebody like Barrie or Luke Schenn could help guide Fabbro’s energy in the right direction. He’ll also need to stay grounded in his fundamentals on the defensive end.
Like Fabbro, Alexandre Carrier enters his sixth season as a Nashville Predator looking to make some noise. Carrier exploded back in 2021-22, notching 30 of his 42 career NHL points, but an injury-riddled 2022-23 campaign limited his impact for the Preds. He’ll hope to recapture his form from two seasons ago this time around.
As mentioned above, Luke Schenn comes to Nashville with plenty of experience to impart to his new teammates this season. The 33-year-old veteran surged back to prominence last season by matching his career high of 22 points, a total he hadn’t reached since his age-22 season. Schenn will hope to help mentor some of Nashville’s young prospects while maintaining last season’s groove and contributing to the action himself.
As for the youngsters, the Predators’ depth of veteran talent on the defensive end will make it a little more difficult for Nashville’s young blueliners to find significant playing time, but here are a few names for Preds fans to look out for in the near future.
It’s a little odd to call a 25-year-old a youngster, but Jeremy Lauzon enters his third season in Nashville looking to graduate from prospect to mainstay. The left-handed defender showed a lot of promise last season, tallying a career-high 12 points. He and Fabbro paired together quite well, playing the third-most minutes out of any Predators pairing and producing pretty well on the ice together. If Lauzon can continue to grow his connection with Fabbro, watch for him to make some noise this season.
Spencer Stastney and Jake Livingstone both notched their first NHL game and assists last season, so they’ll hope to break through at some point this year and build towards a more permanent role. They’ll feature at this year’s Predators rookie camp alongside other top defensive prospects like Jack Matier, Tanner Molendyk and Luke Prokop.
As far as immediate impact, the Predators will likely stick with what they know works with Josi and McDonagh on the top pairing. Barrie makes sense as a second-pairing defender, but the trick will be finding the best guy to pair with him. Pairing Fabbro with a seasoned veteran makes the most sense, so he’ll likely occupy the third pairing with Luke Schenn. That leaves Alexandre Carrier as the obvious choice to play with Barrie on the second pairing. Lauzon would start the season as the odd man out in this lineup, but he could easily rotate in if an injury pops up or to give one of the older guys a night off as the Preds get deeper into the season.
That top pairing will play a big role in determining how well Nashville’s 2023-24 season goes, but a plethora of veterans and young guns will also influence the team’s success (or lack thereof) more than many people may realize.