Nashville and Dallas are similar teams coming into the season from different perspectives
The Nashville Predators make their home debut tonight against the Dallas Stars who will be taking the ice for their first game of the regular season at Bridgestone Arena. These two teams battled for position in the central division in recent seasons. While it's likely they'll compete in the rankings again this season, the franchises are coming into 2022-2023 from different perspectives.
Nashville finished just behind the Stars last season which ultimately led to the disastrous first round sweep by the Colorado Avalanche. The Stars lasted slightly longer, taking the Calgary Flames to a seven game first round series before exiting the postseason. Both teams took action after those losses to change the outlook in '22-'23, and tonight will be a first glimpse at which postseason path may lead to more immediate success.
The Predators addressed two big issues in the offseason by bringing in former Carolina Hurricane Nino Niederreiter to bolster a painfully underperforming second line. Nashville lucked into former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh when the Lightning sacrificed McDonagh due to the cap squeeze. Both of those additions, along with the signing of Kevin Lankinen as a reliable back up for Juuse Saros, could potentially bridge the gap between the vision and the reality of the identity hockey John Hynes has been preaching in his two and a half seasons as head coach.
The Stars hope to remain competitive in the central, but their moves have been more drastic this offseason. Former head coach Rick Bowness stepped away from the Stars bench after his two year contract expired at the end of the 2021-2022 season, and GM Jim Kill announced Pete DeBoer as the Stars' new bench boss on June 21. DeBoer inherited a team with a healthy combination of veteran experience and young potential talent, but the process of installing new systems and getting the group on DeBoer's page has been a challenging preseason project.
The Stars missed one of their young standouts during the preseason as forward Jason Robertson waited for his contract situation to be settled. Dallas took its good old time, but Robertson finally inked a four year, $31 million contract and is ready to open the season with the Stars. Other important changes for the Stars include veteran defenseman John Klingberg departing Dallas for the Anaheim Ducks and the addition of former Florida Panther Mason Marchment to the line up. The Stars will expect much from Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin again while young Wyatt Johnston hopes to impress in his first NHL opportunity.
Two familiar faces take their places in net as both Juuse Saros and Jake Oettinger play between the pipes. Both goaltenders may hold the key to their teams' success not just tonight but throughout the season. Saros, a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, became the stalwart starter for the Preds shortly into John Hynes' tenure, but Oettinger is just coming off his impressive second season that saw him take over the starting job for the Stars. Both goaltenders are game changers, and both will be keys to a win tonight.
Tonight's game will be the first of four contests between the two teams for the 2022-2023 season. Whatever drama and frustration build up this evening will likely spill over into Saturday night's rematch Saturday night in Dallas.
Puck drop is at 7:30 pm CT tonight, The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, and 102.5 The Game will have the call.