Predators' Winning Streak Launching Them Up the Standings

The Nashville Predators have now won six games in a row. While it looked like they were going to be competing for a wild card spot at the beginning of the month, they're now chasing down the Minnesota Wild for the top spot in the Central Division.

There were many questions when Chris MacFarland took over the hot seat in Nashville. Would he double down on the aging core? Should he look to bring in younger assets to avoid a long rebuild in the near future? He opted to do a little bit of both, and so far, it's paying off. 

He's brought in a couple of young players like Nils Hoglander, Shane Wright, Jack Drury, and Mavrik Bourque to complement their core of veterans. At the same time, MacFarland has given Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O'Reilly, Roman Josi, and Juuse Saros another chance to show that this group has what it takes to win with them leading the charge. 

That veteran core has been relied on heavily as, excluding Saros of course, they've been relied on heavily to bring the majority of the team's offense. Forsberg, Stamkos, and Josi are each producing above a point-per-game pace, while O'Reilly is just under that threshold with 17 points in 19 games. 

As a result, the Predators have jumped from competing for the second wild card spot to sitting in second place in the Central Division in just a couple of weeks. While there's a lot of hockey left to play this season, the fact that they're fighting near the top of the division is a positive sign to say the least.