New coach, new system, new team help land four Nashville Predators on ESPN's Top 100 Player Predictions, but what did ESPN get right and what did they get wrong about Nashville?
ESPN released their Top-100 player predictions for the 2023-24 season, and four Nashville Predators made the list for the 2023-24 season. The rankings are based on the players' potential value this upcoming season, and Ryan O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg, Juuse Saros, and Roman Josi all made the list.
Ryan O'Reilly - #99
Coming in at #99, ESPN weighed O'Reilly's consistently solid two way game with a new opportunity in Nashville. O'Reilly has shown in training camp and five games into the season why he could be one of the Predators' best additions in years. O'Reilly is averaging over 20 minutes of ice time playing on both the power play and penalty kill and has two goals and two assists in five games. O'Reilly makes the players around him better, and Filip Forsberg and Jusso Pärssinen are reaping benefits of being his line mates.
Juuse Saros - #51
While it is no surprise Saros made the list, where he landed is. Saros has been the back bone of the Nashville Predators since taking over the starting job from his mentor Pekka Rinne. Last season, Saros did everything possible to help an injury riddled and resetting young team battle for a chance to make the postseason. The Preds came up short, and so did Saros in Vezina voting, finishing fourth behind Linus Ullmark, Ilya Sorokin, and Connor Hellebuyck.
Saros carried the heaviest workload last season leading the league in ice time and shots faced and tying Hellebuyck for games played. Saros also led the league in wins above replacement and goals saved above expected. This season he plays with a revamped team focused more on puck possession and offense, so his stats could be even better. In their first five games, the Predators have outshot their opponents — a nice change for Saros in net. The fact that Saros is ranked lower than five other goalies on this list (Ullmark, Oettinger, Sorokin, Shesterkin, and Hellebuyck) is questionable.
Filip Forsberg - #50
Five games into the season and Filip Forsberg is showing why this new system fits his skill set very well. Forsberg scored his first goal last night against the New York Rangers, but he has led the league in shots taken so far. Forsberg and O'Reilly have developed good chemistry spending almost all of training camp together, and Forsberg could be looking at a season closer to his 2021-22 stats than last season when he missed 32 games and couldn't help the team in a late season wild card push as he dealt with a concussion sustained in February. If Forsberg and O'Reilly continue generating offense at the rate they have early in the season, it could be a very good year for the Swede.
Roman Josi - #27
Nashville's captain is among the best of company when it comes to the defensemen who rank above him including Rasmus Dahlin, Charlie McAvoy, Victor Hedman, Adam Fox, and Cale Makar. Josi is a high scoring offensive defenseman, and the changes under head coach Andrew Brunette could boost his stats again this season. Look for points coming on the power play as the team gets more comfortable and as Josi tries out a few different roles on a new looking man advantage.