2012 Projections: Nashville

The Nashville Predators are not a team you would normally go and pick too many players for your hockey pool team from, historically speaking, and besides a select bunch, they probably won't be a hot bed of fantasy points again this season either.

The Predators are a hard working bunch that will slug out games with the best teams in the NHL, but it's fairly rare that they go on large scoring binges, which poolies would drool over.  No, I wouldn't be looking for really big scoring numbers from the players up front, but whatever talent they do manage to score goals with up front are supported quite nicely from the blueline and they have a couple of goalies that can keep them in low-scoring games.

I think Nashville will have a good number of depth players for your hockey pool team, most of which may come as a bargain, since they are not necessarily a popular team, so I would imagine that a lot of people will overlook some talent in Nashville, opting for worse players on better teams.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Martin Erat	55	Ryan Suter	50	Pekka Rinne	75
David Legwand	55	Shea Weber	45	Anders Lindback	20
Patric Hornqvist	50	Jack Hillen	30
Sergei Kostitsyn	45	Kevin Klein	15
Colin Wilson	45	Jonathan Blum	15
Mike Fisher	40	Francis Bouillon	0
Blake Geoffrion	40
Niclas Bergfors	30
Jordin Tootoo	25
Nick Spaling	10
Jerred Smithson	10
Cal O'Reilly	30	Ryan Ellis	25
Matt Halischuk	25	Tyler Sloan	10
Austin Watson	25
Kyle Wilson	10

Pool Worthy Forwards (Inside the top 160, 35 points)
The forwards won't likely finish as the projections have them out to, being so close and consistent through the line-up, but I don't think it is outlandish at all to have them projected this way.  A lot of the team's offense will be spread out among the pack, so until one of the young players really steps up and becomes an offensive star in a defensive system, this is what we should come to expect.

I like David Legwand to bounce back and make people notice him again, he's been in the shadows, mired in mediocrity for a while now.  I would say that he's due to really step and lead the team again.  With some good young talent coming up, they can be the sort of players that put the jump back into an older veteran's step.

Speaking about the kids, I like both Colin Wilson and Blake Geoffrion to make a push this season, becoming very good depth players, likely turning into those good bargain players that some others may have projected as much, much lower.

Pool Worthy Defensemen (Inside the top 80, 20 points)
On the blueline, I get the feeling that it will be the defenseman on the verge of unrestricted free agency that tops his partner, who was awarded the monster arbitration decision in the off-season.  Yes, I like Ryan Suter to make the push as the better offensive defenseman on Nashville, re-taking that crown from Shea Weber, who has held it for the past few seasons.  It's hard not to like them both, but if I was going to choose one over the other, I would take Suter this year.

As I had noted earlier in this off-season, I thought the Predators signing Jack Hillen was a very good one, as he could be a good sleeper pick for the pools.  He showed some real promise on Long Island and a move to be more responsible on a good defensive team should only help his confidence.

Pool Worthy Goalies (Inside the top 40, 25 points)
Another big minute eater in Nashville, Pekka Rinne, will have to work really hard again to put some more wins in his stat line this year, but I think he'll be fine with that.  A 2011 Vezina Trophy finalist, Rinne should be good for 30+ wins again this year, but the load will likely be heavy again this coming year, which will take away from his back-up, Anders Lindback.

Pool Worthy Rookies
Well, judging by the lack of depth on the blueline, according to the table up top, I think this could be the year for Ryan Ellis to finally make that jump into the Predators line-up.  His small stature will be put to the test in training camp, but there is a fine chance that he will wiggle his way into a tight spot and finally show off his offensive skills at an elite level.

Key Injuries
With Francis Bouillon still suffering from post-concussion syndrome, that should open up a spot on the blueline for some quality young talent that the team has waiting in the wings.  Things were not sounding too positive for the 35-year old defender, so I would stay clear away of him this season.