Three Nashville Predators veterans and an NHL rookie marked milestones so far in November.

Career Game Milestones - Ryan McDonagh and  Ryan Johansen

Defenseman Ryan McDonagh and center Ryan Johansen each celebrated 800 career games in November. 

McDonagh, a 2007 first round draft pick by the Montreal Canadiens, played his 800th NHL game on Thursday night against the New York Islanders. McDonagh was the 12th pick overall in his draft year, and was traded to the New York Rangers in June, 2009 where he made his NHL debut on January 7, 2011. McDonagh scored his first goal - the game winner - in April of that year. 

McDonagh played 516 games for the Rangers where he served as team captain from October 2014 until being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 26, 2018. While with the Lightning, McDonagh had his best career points season in 2018-2019 in which he played all 82 games and recorded 9 goals and 37 assists. The 6'1" defenseman hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 as the Lightning won back to back championships. 

Since being traded to Nashville in the 2022 offseason, McDonagh has played all 18 games for the Predators, including games against his two former teams one week apart. The 33 year old has 6 assists on the season. 

Thirty year old Ryan Johansen also achieved his 800th career game milestone earlier this month in a game against the Colorado Avalanche on November 11. Johansen was the 4th overall pick in the 2010 draft. Selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Johansen made his NHL debut as a Blue Jacket against the Nashville Predators on October 7, 2011. 

Acquired by Nashville in a trade that involved sending young defenseman Seth Jones to Columbus, Johansen joined the Preds in January of 2016. Scoring a goal and an assist in his first game as a Pred on January 8 served as a positive omen for Johansen's future in Nashville. 

Johansen's "JoFA" line with Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg played a key role in the successful Stanley Cup Final season of 2016-2017. Johansen did not get to play in the Finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins after suffering a major leg injury after Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. 

Despite playing with struggling line mates, Johansen had one of his best seasons in 2021-2022, scoring 26 goals and earning 63 points. He also recorded his first career hat trick on April 5, 2022 against Central Division rival Minnesota Wild. 

This season, Johansen has been reunited with former Portland Winter Hawks teammate Nino Niederreiter who the Predators acquired in the offseason. Together the duo have combined for 14 goals in 18 games. 

Career Points Milestone - Matt Duchene 

With his assist on Nino Niederreiter's first period goal in the November 16 game against the Minnesota Wild, Matt Duchene recorded his 700th career point. 

The third overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Colorado Avalanche, Duchene made his NHL debut as an 18 year old on October 1, 2009. Duchene collected 34 goals and 31 assists in his rookie year, finishing third in the Calder voting. Duchene played 586 games for the Avalanche before being a key piece in a blockbuster three way trade in November of 2017 that sent Duchene to Ottawa and brought Kyle Turris to Nashville. 

Duchene's stay in Ottawa was brief. In February of 2018 he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets where he played just 23 games before General Manager David Poile signed Duchene in Nashville to a monster deal on July 1, 2019.

It wasn't an easy early road for Duchene in Nashville. Halfway through his first season, then head coach Peter Laviolette was fired and shortly after new head coach John Hynes came on the pandemic affected the remained of the 2019-2020 season and brought a shortened 2021 NHL season. Duchene finally found his footing with a career best year in 2021-2022. His 43 goals set the Predators' franchise record for most goals in a season, and he led the team in points with 86. 

Duchene is shaking off a slower start to the 2022-2023 season. He currently has 4 goals and 10 assists in 18 games, including 2 power play goals and one game winning goal. He recently joined Niederreiter and Johansen on the second line and the trio have been productive for the Predators. Duchene has a goal and two assists in his last three games. 

NHL Debut - Juuso Pärssinen

On November 12, 21 year old Juuso Pärssinen made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators, and the Finnish forward scored his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot against the New York Rangers. 

Pärssinen made quite an impression on the coaching staff in his last two training camps and so far has made the most of his NHL opportunity. In his first five games, Pärssinen has scored 3 goals and collected five points. He has contributed a goal and an assist to the Predators' power play, which has needed a spark after going 1 for 26 early in the season. 

It has been a golden opportunity for Pärssinen. He is playing on the top line with two of Nashville's best playmakers, Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund and averaging 16:14 time on ice. While he has contributed immediately to the Preds' offense, there have still been glimpses of growing pains with a handful of inopportune giveaways. 

Pärssinen seems to be riding out the successes and challenges of his early NHL career with maturity. He has been able to bounce back from in-game mistakes to take the ice and make strong plays afterwards and continues to focus on improving his power forward play. 

Nashville has several players inching closer to milestones in the coming months. Dante Fabbro is just nine games away from his 200th career game, and Mikael Granlund currently sits at 689 career games. The experience and success of the Preds' roster will hopefully help them climb back into contention in the Central Division.