Observations XX

[Enoch]

What a roster.

This team could have won it all last year.

This team could win it all this year.

There are some holes/flaws, but really not many.

This is the best roster put together ever for the Predators, and they get a full training camp together with no injuries.

Let's go Rinne. You got the vezina. Now its the smythe.

 

[PredsV82]

Yeah, Enoch it's really not possible to be disappointed with our offseason or pessimistic about this team.







Although I'm sure a few posters will try

 

[BigFatCat999]

We talk about Saros taking over but Rinne is plying for a contract. Split the games 41/41. I think we might see some magic from Pekka.

 

[Pred303]

it will almost surely be more like a 55/27 split between rinne and saros this year, barring major injury or one of them having an awful year.

 

[BigFatCat999]

it will almost surely be more like a 55/27 split between rinne and saros this year, barring major injury or one of them having an awful year.

That was the split last year.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

it will almost surely be more like a 55/27 split between rinne and saros this year, barring major injury or one of them having an awful year.

I would not be putting any carts before any horses. Just let it play out. I certainly did not anticipate a Vezina season from Rinne last year. So who knows. But I would stay open to all possibilities.

That said, time is on Saros' side, and not on Rinne's. At some point it may advantage the Preds to invest in preparing Saros to take over. That may not be as soon as next season. Or it may. But ultimately, it is inevitable.

 

[Armourboy]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if from here on out you don't see more of a going with who is hot kind of deal. I think the ultimate goal for this year will be less about getting Saros ready and more about keeping Pekka well rested for another playoff run. Say what you will but he definitely plays better after some rest.

I think Pekka knows what is coming, his comments from the end of the playoffs says that. It will be up to him to decide how he wants to end his career. If he wants more money he can go the journeyman route for the end of his career, but if he will take less money and embrace the mentor roll then he could play here for several more years. I think he and his agent already know he isn't going to get 7 million a season from the Preds so it's just a matter of what is more important to him.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

i don't care much about what happens with pekka after this year. these past playoffs spoke for themselves. my concern is can saros be the guy. pekka may have a few good seasons left but our core's window is set up to run way past rinne's shelf life.

 

[101st_fan]

i don't care much about what happens with pekka after this year. these past playoffs spoke for themselves. my concern is can saros be the guy. pekka may have a few good seasons left but our core's window is set up to run way past rinne's shelf life.

The past two playoff runs also spoke for themselves about how Lavi manages goaltenders in the post season. One could make a case that Saros should have at least one start to give Rinne the rest he needs to play well over the longer term. Rinne gets the rest in the regular season with Saros showing he is capable, at least in short bursts, of starting and winning games. Come playoff time and its Rinne with every start, not getting the rest, and eventually having a flameout between the pipes. I get going with your star goalie, but deviating from what made him successful in the regular season is maddening.

 

[King Weber]

finally.

 

[MrJoshua]

The past two playoff runs also spoke for themselves about how Lavi manages goaltenders in the post season. One could make a case that Saros should have at least one start to give Rinne the rest he needs to play well over the longer term. Rinne gets the rest in the regular season with Saros showing he is capable, at least in short bursts, of starting and winning games. Come playoff time and its Rinne with every start, not getting the rest, and eventually having a flameout between the pipes. I get going with your star goalie, but deviating from what made him successful in the regular season is maddening.

The team had a four-day break between rounds 1 and 2, and two days off between games 6 and 7 of the second round series against Winnipeg. I get what you're saying, but Rinne had two chances to catch a little rest and the team followed both breaks with losses in games 1 and 7 against the Jets. That said, man that was a weird series. And by weird I mean painful.

 

[101st_fan]

It's not just the physical rest. It's the mental rest of not going into every game as a starter with the pressure that he clearly puts on himself as evidenced by his post Game 7 comments this spring. He's been pulled something like six times in the last three playoff series (might be 5, 6, or 7 .... going on challenged recall here). 20170-18 was 13 post season games ... all started by Pekka. 22 post season games the season before ... again, all started by Pekka. He thrives on a pretty significant workload ... but an additional 1/6th to 1/4th of a season without a programmed start by Saros doesn't fit how the goalie situation is working of late. He isn't Glenn Hall.

 

[PredsV82]

While I admit I've only been watching hockey intently for about 20 years, I don't ever recall a team "resting" a starting goalie mid series.. ever. There have been Cup winning teams who switched goalies during their Cup run many times, but never a planned "breather" game for a goalie who is otherwise playing well. I think the reason is the idea is silly. In a 7 game series you cant afford to give away even 1 game and so you play the goalie who you think is most likely to win the game for you every night. If that goalie struggles then you try the other guy, but to give your "best" goalie a night off in the playoffs is ludicrous.

 

[Pred303]

i agree voldy. in a series you have to start the guy you think gives you the best chance of winning. every game. now if that guy is coming off a horrible game maybe it makes sense, but you never 'rest' a guy simply because of a rotation you used in the regular season.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

One thing going forward into this year....now that we have gotten the Presidents' Trophy and Division Title out of the way, I'm not going to get overly concerned/excited with regular season W/L. It's all about making the playoffs, getting good matchups and staying healthy and hoping your goalie gets hot. We learned last year that home ice really means nothing. The Caps won every round on the road.

 

[FossilFndr]

I'm sure I'll still get excited/concerned ... hopefully the ride will have less overall stress since those first time goals are history.

 

[Pred303]

hmmff, i'm still gonna overeact to every loss.

 

[101st_fan]

i agree voldy. in a series you have to start the guy you think gives you the best chance of winning. every game. now if that guy is coming off a horrible game maybe it makes sense, but you never 'rest' a guy simply because of a rotation you used in the regular season.

Normally I would agree with you. Looking at how Pekka handled the extra games makes me think otherwise. When the way things are always done isn't working it becomes time to look at a different approach. His long leash let him run well past tracer burn out. When he's on his game, things are great. An off game and the team is done before Saros can take off his ball cap ... and those off games became too frequent in recent playoff series (sub .800 sv% in 3 of 13 playoff starts last season).

 

[Adz]

hmmff, i'm still gonna overeact to every loss.

Yeah, me too. I'm miserable til the next win.

It's actually a credit to their youth and what a great team they are that they didn't crash in the following fall like so many teams after a SC run. They were full tilt boogie til around February, then it caught up with them. Having plenty of wins despite losing their edge kind of masked their fatigue, but I could tell by March that they were running on fumes. I knew in round 1 they probably wouldn't make it past round 2.

But they'll take those lessons to heart. Pacing is key, how you're playing is almost as important as the score, and goals must be set up with lots of mini-goals in between them. How many times did we hear them say "Just get to the Playoffs" and "We want to win the Cup"? They know now there's more to it than that. You have to win 4 series to get it and no other team wants to let you do it on their watch.

 

[TitansVolsPreds615]

hmmff, i'm still gonna overeact to every loss.

I reserve the right to change my mind once the season starts.

 

[triggrman]

Normally I would agree with you. Looking at how Pekka handled the extra games makes me think otherwise. When the way things are always done isn't working it becomes time to look at a different approach. His long leash let him run well past tracer burn out. When he's on his game, things are great. An off game and the team is done before Saros can take off his ball cap ... and those off games became too frequent in recent playoff series (sub .800 sv% in 3 of 13 playoff starts last season).

And you think rest will fix it?

 

[101st_fan]

And you think rest will fix it?

I don't think that Rinne can handle the additional 13-25 games per season in the playoffs and I think that Saros has made a case to start in his relief appearances. That is based upon the number of times Rinne got pulled even with his long playoff leash and the number of sub .800sv% games. His Vezina winning season wasn't one with 65+ starts.

Do you think that Pekka's performance over the last three playoff series doesn't show some issues that warrant something besides the status quo approach?

 

[triggrman]

I want Saros to start. I have no confidence in post season Rinne

 

[101st_fan]

I want Saros to start. I have no confidence in post season Rinne

Playoff Rinne is at one end of the spectrum or the other ... standing on his head or shelled and run out of the net ... far too often. Saros still has zero playoff starts even with all of the times Rinne got yanked. The only way I see Saros getting the net long-term requires 1) Lavi realizing that Pekka is struggling under the workload of the additional games ... 2) Giving Saros a start to give Rinne a breather ... and 3) Saros playing well enough that he is the better option. I would expect Lavi to go back to Pekka at the first possible opportunity, to include even if Saros won without a dominating performance.

Rinne did very well over the long haul with managed starts this past regular season. He hasn't done so well in the playoffs with every start over the past several series. At some point, a change in goalie management during the postseason warrants some thought ... thought I would prefer happens at a point where it can make a positive difference in the playoff run rather than after elimination. Limiting the thought to established norms of modern hockey and precluding what are almost heretical concepts is to potentially miss a solution.

 

[Pred303]

i've seen so many of them that i don't get as excited as i used to about the season ahead, but this should be a mighty good team again. a 110 point type team or i will be disappointed.

to me, i look at the playoffs as a totally seperate season. a crapshoot. don't just think of the season goal as winning a cup or you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. the entertaining thing to me is the daily grind of the 6 month regular season.