Top Predators Storylines 2022-23: The Injuries Piled Up
Injuries to top players Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and Matt Duchene contributed to major changes this season for the Nashville Predators.
The Nashville Predators 2022-2023 season took many twists and turns on the way to missing out on the postseason. There were several contributing factors to the team missing the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, and one of the biggest was likely the long list of injuries.
Top Players Out Down the Stretch
The quantity of injuries this season was certainly noteworthy- the 291 man games lost this season was the second highest since 2011-2011 - but the quality of players who missed games in the second half of the season was a tough challenge to overcome.
Filip Forsberg
Filip Forsberg left the February 11 game against the Philadelphia Flyers with just :05 seconds remaining in the first period after taking a hit from Rasmus Ristolainen. It appeared Forsberg hit his head on the ice as he fell, and he needed assistance to get off the ice.
At the locker room clean out, Forsberg confirmed he suffered a concussion and shared how challenging his recovery process has been.
"It was probably even worse than it looked," Forsberg remarked on the fall and injury. "It was definitely up and down. It's one of those things that's hard to know how it's going to go. You kind of have to take it day by day and see how it goes."
Recovery from a concussion is rarely linear, and Forsberg felt the frustration of not being well enough to return this season.
"It's hard to really explain unless you've ever had one. It's just like you did not feel right, which is probably the best way to describe it. It was kind of lingering a little bit longer. It almost frustrates you more because you feel pretty much normal but you're missing that last little bit that it takes to play in the NHL."
Roman Josi
Roman Josi left the March 18 game at home against the Winnipeg Jets after the first period and did not return for the rest of the season. It was a concussion that relegated the Nashville captain to watching the remainder of the season as well.
"It was super frustrating," Josi said of sitting out especially down the stretch. "Just the timing of it. Obviously we played some really important games, and it's always frustrating when you can't be out there. Just ran out of time there at the end."
Josi played 67 games this season - the fewest he's played in any regular 82 games season since becoming a full time NHL'er.
Ryan Johansen
It was a freak accident that sidelined Ryan Johansen on February 21. Johansen was cut by the skate blade of Vancouver Canucks' defenseman Quinn Hughes as Hughes fell to the ice. While Johansen knew he'd been cut right away and needed help getting off the ice, the extent of his injury wasn't clear until moments later in the locker room.
The blade cut two tendons on the side of Johansen's calf, and the 30 year old center had surgery to repair the damage. He would not return to the lineup for the rest of the season.
Matt Duchene
Matt Duchene missed ten games at the end of the season after suffering a gruesome injury on March 26. Teammate Dante Fabbro's shot hit Duchene in the hand, severing his fingertip in his glove and requiring surgery.
"I'll be honest, it didn't hurt as bad as other injuries I've had," Duchene shared in the postseason press conference. "It just felt weird. I pulled my glove off, looked at my finger, and that's the last time I've seen it."
While Duchene sustained two fractures in his finger and wasn't able to have the tip reattached, he was fortunate that no tendons were affected. Doctors believe he will not have any lasting effects. The injury, surgeries, and working through the recovery process has been challenging, but it was not the hardest part of the season's end for Nashville's leading goal scorer.
"That was the hardest part for me - not being a part of that," Duchene said of the final push the remaining healthy veterans and young players made.
The injuries to Nashville's top players weren't just disappointing, they were season altering especially when it came to timing. Forsberg and Johansen were out before the trade deadline, but it's hard not to play the "what if" game looking at Nashville's performance in the final 20 games of the season. Could the Predators have squeaked into the playoffs with the success of the youth who stepped in after the injuries and just one or two of these top players still healthy and in the lineup? Could a healthy Josi or Duchene given the Predators that little bit of extra offense they needed to swing one or two of those one goal games in Nashville's favor?
The Blueliner Injuries
The first major injury of the season came in mid October when veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki was stretchered off the ice after a hard and awkward hit into the boards. Borowiecki appeared unconscious for a moment, and his injury (concussion) kept him out for the remaining 75 games of the 2022-2023 season. The 33 year old was playing on a one year contract, and it remains to be seen what his future with the franchise will look like. In the end of the season press conference, David Poile mentioned that Borowiecki hasn't made a final decision about returning to the ice, but the team is very interested in keeping him with the franchise in perhaps a new capacity.
Ryan McDonagh's penchant for shot blocking cost him seven games in December after taking a puck to the cheek and then another upper body injury saw McDonagh sit out for four games in mid March. The loss of that veteran presence in December was especially costly as the Preds went 1-4-2 during his absence.
The other long term and costly loss to the blue line this season was 26 year old Alexandre Carrier. Carrier played his first full season as an NHL'er in 2021-2022 and hopes were high for his continued growth this season. Carrier missed nine games after sustaining an upper body injury in a fight against 6'7" Logan Stanley of the Jets on January 24. Carrier returned for just three games when he suffered a broken collarbone after being hit with the puck and didn't return to play for the remainder of the season.
Both Carrier and McDonagh figured prominently in the Predators defensive plans when the season began, and their injuries and absences became even more challenging after the loss of Mattias Ekholm at the trade deadline and Roman Josi to injury down the stretch.
It is hard to look back at the 2022-2023 season and not see the significant injuries as a major storyline for the Predators. Losing key pieces like Duchene and Forsberg and the loss of defensemen Josi, Carrier, and McDonagh for weeks at a time certainly changed the trajectory of the team.
There was perhaps a silver lining to the losses the Preds suffered during this season, but that is a story for another day...
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