How much will having arguably the worst 1C in the Western Conference hurt the Predators?

[Soundgarden]

Considering how great he played during last year's playoffs and the fact that we added Johansen, Turris and Bonino to the roster since the finals, I'm not really worried.

 

[WHOneedsSOX]

Sounds like the Blues for the previous 5 years... Best D corps without a #1 C.

Blues were missing a far more important piece than a #1 which is a #1 goalie. Allen and Elliot? Way too streaky with the streaks being more on the bad side most of the time.

 

[KingBran]

Blues were missing a far more important piece than a #1 which is a #1 goalie. Allen and Elliot? Way too streaky with the streaks being more on the bad side most of the time.

No doubt. I agree.

 

[Flair Hay]

It didn't last year but it's a valid question. Preds won't be sneaking up on anybody this year.

Tough to see them dropping 4 of 7 to the Avs though...

 

[Rebels57]

They had worst C depth last year, so....not a lot?

 

[RomanEmpire]

*This offseason

HF: “Nashville is one center away from being a year after year cup contender. They’ll have zero holes in their lineup.”

*Preds add Turris & Bonino on top of Johansen, Fisher, Sissons, & Jarnkrok.

HF: “Nashville has the worst center depth in the west. Probably bounced in the 2nd round”

Color me confused.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

It didn't last year but it's a valid question. Preds won't be sneaking up on anybody this year.

Tough to see them dropping 4 of 7 to the Avs though...

Definitely. However, the target has been on their backs the whole season. They have been the hunted for awhile now.

 

[Fire Benning]

Johansen had a bit of a down year, he might be the worst 1C in the conference but I wouldn't call him 'bad'. They can still go far, they went far with him as their 1C last year and played great in the playoffs before he got hurt, he outplayed Toews a healthy Kesler in the conference finals, that first line with Arvidsson and Forsberg is a very domiannt line. It might hurt them in a series against Winnipeg where the matchup would likely be Scheifele vs Johansen, but then again I'm not sure the loser of a Winnipeg/Nashville can be criticized that much given that they finished 1/2 in the league.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Sounds like the Blues for the previous 5 years... Best D corps without a #1 C.

Wait, the Blues had the best D corps in the NHL the past 5 years? Could have fooled me.

 

[Flair Hay]

Definitely. However, the target has been on their backs the whole season. They have been the hunted for awhile now.

I am thinking more in terms of who can adjust well to counter Laviolette's style. It's not easy he's been successful with it for a long time with 3 teams now.

There's a reason the 06 Hurricanes are unanimously the worst Cup winner ever

 

[PredsV82]

Sounds like the Blues for the previous 5 years... Best D corps without a #1 C.

Good one.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

*This offseason

HF: “Nashville is one center away from being a year after year cup contender. They’ll have zero holes in their lineup.”

*Preds add Turris & Bonino on top of Johansen, Fisher, Sissons, & Jarnkrok.

HF: “Nashville has the worst center depth in the west. Probably bounced in the 2nd round”

Color me confused.

Standard HF hypocrisy and ever changing parameters

 

[rent free]

Haha thank goodness someone can use deductive reasoning. Havent seen the best of Turris yet he is a playoff rockstar and absolutely clutch in overtime.

27 points in 46 games screams playoff rockstar? low expectations then

 

[PredsV82]

Pretty widely known. You know when they were tops in the West all those times and always touted as having the best D in the league and missing a top C.

[MOD]/QUOTE]

And another knee slapper. Here's a hint.. when you're in a hole, stop digging. Blues havent had the best D in the central division in recent memory.

Nobody outside you Blues Homer's has said/thought your D was better than Nashville all the way back to the Weber-Suter days.

And if following hockey for 20 years qualifies as a "new to hockey" then I'm guessing more than half of hf is "new to hockey"

So enjoy your sour grapes and your early tee times. See you in the fall when your team will still not have the best D, or forwards, or goalie in the division

 

[Drake744]

He didn't play like the worst 1C in last year's playoffs

 

[LuGBuG]

Not a chance they will be able to overcome it. It will be the reason they get eliminated. It showed last playoffs and this regular season they can’t overcome it.

 

[wannabebluesplayer]

Johansen isn't the best 1 C in the Western Conference of teams in the playoffs, but he's a solid 1/2 punch with Turris. That will help. As much as I dislike the Preds, Johansen isn't the one who'll hurt them...it's going to be if Rinne can keep up his stellar season.

 

[Spirit of 67]

Zero

 

[vanarchy]

They have the best, most evened out roster in the league IMO. Whether that translates to a cup or not remains to be seen but I don’t think they’re worried about Johansen’s 1C ranking LOL

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

Blueton has managed to insert himself into another Preds' thread. Let's get back to Ryan Johansen shall we?

 

[ChiHawks10]

Blueton has managed to insert himself into another Preds' thread. Let's get back to Ryan Johansen shall we?

Edit: Sorry, forgot I'm not on the poli board.

Can't say that.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

To be fair to the OP, when was the last time a cup winner did not have a top-tier 1C?

Before last year it had been an eternity since someone did it with no 1D. Also Ryjo played like a 1C last year in the playoffs thats what matters. I do think its a relatively valid concern tho.

 

[Leonhard Euler]

Let's not forget how great RyJo was last year in the play offs (before injury)

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

Didn't seem to be a problem literally all season. I guess this is when I'm told "playoffs are different" but I'm given no actual reason for why it'll be different.

You don’t think there’s a difference between a random regular season game and a 7 game series where other teams exploit every weakness?

 

[ChiHawks10]

You don’t think there’s a difference between a random regular season game and a 7 game series where other teams exploit every weakness?

I wouldn't call the Preds' centers a weakness, though...