Newcomers Jones and Forsberg lead the Nashville Predators Top 20

[HF Article]

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Since their inception the Nashville Predators have been built primarily through the draft. A year removed from a season mired by free agency and injury struggles, general manager David Poile had to question the depth of NHL-ready talent in his prospect pool as the season wore down.



After making the final deal of the day at the NHL trade deadline and watching as the projected top pick in the 2013 NHL Draft fell to his selection this summer in New Jersey, there is little doubt where the focus remains as the team looks to rebuild and return to the playoffs in the upcoming season. 

With the graduation of defenseman Ryan Ellis, trade of center Michael Latta to Washington, and loss of goaltender Jeremy Smith and defenseman Jonathon Blum in free agency, the Predators cannot be disappointed with the additions of defenseman Seth Jones and right wing Filip Forsberg to the top of their depth chart this season.… read more



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[AtlantaWhaler]

Great stuff, Seth. Reading this makes me excited about the future of the team.

 

[RaiderDoug]

Interesting to think that if Forsberg and Jones both pan out that we may have completely revamped this franchise's fortunes in one pretty unsuccessful month (between the Erat trade on Apr 3rd and clinching the #4 spot on Apr 27th).

 

[triggrman]

Great read. It's nice having a writer that knows the market.

 

[ThirdManIn]

Excellent write up, Seth. Now I need to see about getting our prospect scroll changed.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

You mean Blum isn't our third best prospect?!?!

 

[Seth Lake]

Thanks everyone for not only the compliments, but also the nudge earlier this summer to actually seek out the position when it became available last month.

I hope to be able to provide quality coverage to the position and keep everyone apprised of the latest on the team's prospects as the season unfolds. As always, feel free to ask questions whenever they arise and I'll do my best to answer or direct you to a resource where you can find your answer.

Glad to be back in the writing community again after a year away from it all. We are still a couple of articles behind this month, so my goal is to catch us up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more writing over on Hockey's Future!

 

[Seth Lake]

Interesting to think that if Forsberg and Jones both pan out that we may have completely revamped this franchise's fortunes in one pretty unsuccessful month (between the Erat trade on Apr 3rd and clinching the #4 spot on Apr 27th).

As you point out, as I got into writing the prospect capsules I went back and looked over the list a couple of times and came to the same conclusion and that really framed my intro into the whole article. If things go right in the next couple of years, a miserable month on the ice might work out to be the best thing to happen to the franchise in the last decade.

Was thinking about the article last night as Jones assisted on Forsberg's first NHL goal and we saw the two of them celebrating together afterwards. Seems like just last season we were always complaining about not being in position to draft impact players like Forsberg and Jones. One bad season, one unhappy player, one GM going all in to make the playoffs, and we have ourselves two top prospects in the cupboard!

 

[The PH Factor]

Thanks everyone for not only the compliments, but also the nudge earlier this summer to actually seek out the position when it became available last month.

I hope to be able to provide quality coverage to the position and keep everyone apprised of the latest on the team's prospects as the season unfolds. As always, feel free to ask questions whenever they arise and I'll do my best to answer or direct you to a resource where you can find your answer.

Glad to be back in the writing community again after a year away from it all. We are still a couple of articles behind this month, so my goal is to catch us up in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more writing over on Hockey's Future!

If your articles continue to follow the high quality set by your previous posts/analysis, we've got alot to look forward to here.

 

[Predsboro]

Nicely done Seth! Thanks for the coverage and congrats on the position.

 

[PredsV82]

Seth, should we be concerned that Aberg isnt signed? I always assumed signing an ELC was something of a formality since the terms really cant be negotiated..

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

Seth, should we be concerned that Aberg isnt signed? I always assumed signing an ELC was something of a formality since the terms really cant be negotiated..

I wouldn't be too concerned. If we had signed him over the summer, he would be burning a year of his ELC playing in Sweden. I suspect we will sign him in the spring, after his (so far excellent) campaign with Farjestad is done.

 

[Drake744]

This article was excellent for me. I love the Preds as much as anyone, but I'm just not very good at keeping up with the prospects and what's going on in the system, especially in Europe. Except for the elite guys obviously. I'm not good at prospects in baseball either. Not sure why, I just don't gather that information very well, so it's great to read something like this that can keep me up to speed.

 

[predfan98]

Great article! Thanks.

 

[Predarat]

Seth the writer not the player > coopah

 

[Seth Lake]

Seth, should we be concerned that Aberg isnt signed? I always assumed signing an ELC was something of a formality since the terms really cant be negotiated..

I wouldn't be too concerned. If we had signed him over the summer, he would be burning a year of his ELC playing in Sweden. I suspect we will sign him in the spring, after his (so far excellent) campaign with Farjestad is done.

Agreed, Ã…berg had a tough year last season trying unsuccessfully to bring Djurgardens back to the SEL after being relegated the year prior. This season he has moved onto Farjestad in the Swedish Elite League where through the first ten games of the season he is tied for the team scoring lead with six points (4 goals, 2 assists). While he is signed through the 2014-15 season in Sweden, the Predators can still sign Ã…berg this summer through the terms of the transfer agreement with the IIHF.

Åberg and fellow Preds prospect Max Görtz will be playing in the AHL All-Star Game this season with Farjestad representing the AHL All-Stars opponent.

 

[KevFist]

Horrible article. Writer obviously knows nothing about NSV.

(Come on...Wouldn't be HFBoards if someone didn't rip it! Seriously though...Awesome job, Seth. Always love your writing, and I think this article is dead on too.)

 

[Seth Lake]

Horrible article. Writer obviously knows nothing about NSV.

(Come on...Wouldn't be HFBoards if someone didn't rip it! Seriously though...Awesome job, Seth. Always love your writing, and I think this article is dead on too.)

KevFist*

Nah, just kidding! Thanks!

Starting my notes on the next article tonight. Hope to start writing by the end if the weekend and have it published by the end of next week.