Should The Blackhawks Be Nervous About The Predators After Their Big Trade
#Preds acquire former players Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli from #Leafs. Trade analysis —> http://t.co/5PYWmQbJJT pic.twitter.com/3s80QxmoOW
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) February 15, 2015
Central Division teams making a big splash at the deadline is becoming a bit of a trend. Last year the Blues went all in and acquired Ryan Miller. I said it wouldn’t matter and everyone said I was an idiot. Fast forward to the 1st round and the Blackhawks beat the Blues in 6 games. The Miller trade didn’t matter.
I actually think this trade is a better move for the Preds than the Miller trade was for the Blues. Franson and Santorelli were among the top trade targets in the entire league and the Predators didn’t waste any time making a move. It is certainly an upgrade, but it doesn’t solve their biggest problem. The Predators still lack dynamic offensive playmakers that are needed to win in the playoffs. It’s a similar problem the Blues faced last year. When the weather starts to warm up, the scoring chances get locked down. The Preds have become more of an offensive team under Peter Laviolette, but their leading scorer is a rookie. Their 2nd leading scorer is Mike Ribeiro, a 35 year-old. smallish center who has 6 career playoff goals in 49 games. In the post-season the matchup game gets emphasized even more and chances are so hard to come by. Forsberg, Ribeiro, and James Neal aren’t going to be able to shake Norris and Selke candidates every night and the Preds don’t have enough secondary scoring.
I like the trade for the Preds, but as far as the playoffs are concerned I think they’re still the 3rd best team in the Central behind Chicago and St. Louis. The Preds have the defense and the goaltending, but what separates the also-rans from the contenders are players who can bury the once-in-a-blue moon chance. The LA Kings were built similarly to the Preds in the past. The key to their Championship runs were deadline trades for Jeff Carter and Marian Gaborik. Maybe the Preds aren’t done(they still have assets to trade and $10M in cap space), but as currently constructed I don’t think they have enough to get out of the West.
So no, it’s not time to worry about the Preds. The Hawks and their fans will go down to Nashville, buy all their tickets, drink all of their beer, steal their women and break all of their little fang fingers. They won’t even get to see Carrie Underwood’s face because she’ll look like this the whole time.
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