Colorado's second-line center Ryan Johansen knew it would be tough to return to the city where he spent eight years of his career.

To no surprise, Ryan Johansen was bombarded by media after morning skate with reporters asking how he feels being back in "Smashville." 

"It's weird, for sure, I'm not gonna lie," the 31-year-old forward said. "Definitely coming into town, felt like coming home. It's been exciting though. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment so far and just the time. My parents have come in, and my girl's here so it's been nice." 

Johansen was acquired by the Avalanche on June 24, 2023 for Alex Galchenyuk, with the Nashville Predators retaining 50% of his salary remaining on his two-year contract. 

"You never expect those things to happen but when they do, no matter what, it's always a shock and a big change," Johansen said about the trade. "I'm so grateful I was here for all that time." 

Head coach Jared Bednar said Johansen has brought "a little bit of everything" to the team but he's still working on finding chemistry with his linemates in the 5-on-5 situations as they've changed due to injuries. 

"He's a guy that's chipping in in a bunch of different ways. We use him in a bunch of different situations — big faceoff guy for us, penalty kill, power play, 5-on-5 ...," Bednar said after morning skate at Bridgestone Arena. "He just adds all those other little things, intangibles in a bunch of different special teams, it's really helped us."

The British Columbia native said he remains friends with some players on his former team and was able to catch up with a few of them on Sunday. He said it is a "special place to play" and appreciates all the friends and memories he made, people he met and relationships he foraged. 

"Everything's new, it's a new opportunity for me with a new club," Johansen told reporters. "Just trying to prove to these guys what I'm all about and what I can bring and I've just been enjoying that process of it."

This is the first of four matchups between the Central Division rivals for the season. The Avs swept the series against the Preds last season — for the first time in franchise history — with Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon earning the top points. 

Former Avs forward Ryan O'Reilly is second in points for the Predators with 15 but the team has struggled to get wins. Nashville sits seventh in the division and 10 points behind Colorado. 

The puck drops at 6 p.m. MT with both teams coming off wins over other Central Division teams. 

Projected lineup

Valeri Nichushkin — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Jonathan Drouin — Ryan Johansen — Tomas Tatar
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O'Connor
Andrew Cogliano — Fredrik Olofsson — Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Samuel Girard
Jack Johnson — Josh Manson

Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov