The NHL released some league leaders in what can be considered interesting and unique categories from the 2023-24 season and two Nashville Predators are featured. Goaltender Juuse Saros led the league in saves with 1672 and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon led the league in hits with 383. Saros wasn't at the top of his game overall, but at times he did play extremely well. The Predators netminder started the most games in the league (63) and played the most games (64) last season among any goaltender. He started two more games and played in one more game than the next closest goalie, Alexandar Georgiev of the Colorado Avalanche. Lauzon had a commanding lead on the next closest player to him in hits last season. He was a machine and hit everything that came close to him. He was also the only one to top 300 hits. The player with the second-most hits in the league was Garnett Hathaway with 286. Nashville players from 2023-24 that ranked in the top-25 in hits also included Kiefer Sherwood (216 - T14th), Cole Smith (211 - T17th), and Luke Schenn (197 - 24th). CATEGORIES PREDATORS DIDN'T LEAD IN Some of the other categories featured include shorthanded goals, penalties drawn, blocked shots, goalie points, average time-on-ice, face-off wins, and game-winning goals. The league leader in shorthanded goals was Philadelphia Flyers' Travis Konecny with six. The closest Nashville player to that total was Colton Sissons with three. This is still a respectable amount of goals while down a man for the leader of the Predators, but six is excellent and a team is more worried about making a mistake with Konecny on the ice killing penalties. Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz speaks to the media following a busy first day of free agency on July 1, 2024. Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk led the league in penalties drawn with 50. No surprise there. But Lauzon and Filip Forsberg were both tied in 22nd with 30 penalties drawn each. While Lauzon's is more retaliation on him for all the hitting and battling he does, Forsberg has the puck a lot and measures have to be taken to try to get the puck off of him. Colton Parayko of the St. Louis Blues had the most blocked shots in the league last season with 218. Way too far down the list was the Predators player with the most blocked shots with 151, Roman Josi. Some other defensemen need to step up if the most offensively-gifted d-man is also putting his body on the line the most. Former starting goalie of the Calgary Flames, Jacob Markstrom, led the league in points from netminders with five. Both of the full-time Predators goalies recorded at least a point last season, but together they didn't tally as many of Markstrom alone. Saors had two assists in 64 games and Kevin Lankinen recorded one assist in 24 games. Even at 34 years old, John Carlson is counted on so much on the back-end for the Washington Capitals. He led the NHL in average time-on-ice per game last season with 25:54. As Josi is the top defenseman for Nashville and is relied upon heavily, he ranked 12th in the league in ATOI with 24:38. Sidney Crosby is still regarded as one of, if not the best face-off man in the league. He led the NHL in face-off wins with 1090. The top guy on the Predators was Ryan O'Reilly with 828. He ranked fifth in the league. Though Crosby had a lot more draws taken, his face-off percentage was 58.12% while O'Reilly's was 53.91%. It's rare for a player to score 10 game-winning goals in a season, but Brayden Point managed to lead the league with 12 last season. So close to the lead was Forsberg who was tied in second with 11. Only six players reached 10 game-winning goals in 2023-24. The Predators surprised last season, had an amazing free agency, and will surely have players fill this list of leaders in unique and interesting categories next season as well. RECENT PREDATORS NEWS Where Do the Nashville Predators' New Additions Fit in the Lineup? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/where-do-the-nashville-predators-new-additions-fit-in-the-lineup] Carrier: Predators' Free-Agent Haul Raises Expectations for Nashville [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/carrier-predators-free-agent-haul-raises-expectations-for-nashville] Barry Trotz, Predators Not Done Making Moves This Offseason [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/barry-trotz-predators-not-done-making-moves-this-offseason] Despite Incredible Offseason, Nashville Predators Still Hindered by Cap Hits of 4 Former Players [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news/despite-incredible-offseason-nashville-predators-still-hindered-by-cap-hits-of-4-former-players]
