Who Is the Greatest #32 in Nashville Predators History?

Our series on the greatest players to wear each number in Nashville Predators history lumbers on (hey, it looks like we’ll have plenty of time for it) with #32, bringing us a revenge match from an earlier edition. And just when you thought the score was settled between Teemu Laakso and Cody Franson…

Jeff Daniels

During the mid- to late-90’s Daniels had trouble cracking an NHL lineup, but in the early portion of the 1998-1999 season he suited up for 9 games as a Pred (scoring 1 goal and adding 3 assists). He had been claimed from Carolina in the Expansion Draft, and headed back to the Hurricanes in the summer as a free agent after spending the rest of the season in Milwaukee.

Cale Hulse

The very model of a tough, stay-at-home physical defenseman, Hulse spent three years with Nashville, playing 225 games from the 2000-2001 to 2002-2003 seasons (with three goals and 15 assists in total). He led the team in penalty minutes each season, and stands 8th on the franchise’s all-time list with 370 PIMs as a Pred. He had been acquired in 2000 via trade from Calgary in exchange for Sergei Krivokrasov, and left as a free agent in 2003.

Mathieu Darche

Signed as a free agent for the 2003-2004 season, Darche played just two games for the Predators (going scoreless), instead spending most of that year with Milwaukee, where had a productive 59-point campaign.

Cody Franson

During his rookie season of 2009-2010, Franson broke into the NHL wearing the #32, and made a big splash in a protected role with 6 goals and 15 assists in 61 games. The mood heading into his sophomore season was optimistic, and his continued to progress (having switched to the #4 sweater that year), but was traded to Toronto in the summer of 2011 as part of the Matthew Lombardi salary dump.

Teemu Laakso

We’ve seen him before in this series representing #2 and #4, but the #32 was perhaps the least lucky for Teemu. He played just one game in the 2010-2011 season wearing that number for Nashville, seeing just 2:43 of ice time in a 1-0 victory at Dallas.