Nashville Predators training camp opened less than a week ago and already we've seen three practices, one intrasquad scrimmage and one preseason game, a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sept. 20.
The Predators will play three more preseason games to finish the first 10 days of camp, starting with a home matchup against the Lightning at Bridgestone Arena on Sept. 22 (7 p.m. CT), then two against the Carolina Hurricanes: on the road on Sept. 24 (6 p.m. CT) and at home on Sept. 26 (2 p.m. CT).
"This is a unique camp with how short it is," coach Andrew Brunette said on Sept. 17. "There's not a lot of time to be prepared."
With the regular-season home opener on Oct. 1 against the Minnesota Wild, there's not much time for Brunette to trim his roster
to 23 players, which must be done by Sept. 29.
Here's what we've learned about the Predators so far.
The Predators' center depth is stronger at both ends
General manager Chris MacFarland added four centers to the roster this summer, acquiring Mavrik Bourque from the Dallas Stars, Jack Drury and Ross Colton from the Colorado Avalanche, and signing Alex Kerfoot to a two-year deal.
Here's how things look up the middle for Nashville so far:
- 1st-line center, 1st power play: Ryan O'Reilly
- 2nd-line center, 1st power play: Matthew Wood
- 3rd-line center, 2nd power play: Bourque
- 4th-line center, penalty kill: Drury
- Extra centers: Colton, Kerfoot
O'Reilly, Bourque and Wood will carry the offense, but Drury is an important defensive addition. A premier faceoff winner, he'll replace Michael McCarron as the fourth-line anchor, but with more speed and offensive upside.
The Predators need more speed at defense
MacFarland told The Tennessean on Sept. 10 he'd love to add a puck-moving defenseman to the mix. Through the first week of camp, you can see why. There's not much speed on the back end outside of Roman Josi.
Brady Skjei, Nick Perbix, Nicolas Hague, and Ilya Lyubushkin can all kill plays coming into the zone, but they struggle with zone exits. This forces forwards to begin the rush lower in the zone, limiting their transition offense. Ryan Ufko is a promising option, but he has played in only 19 NHL games. Justin Barron appears to be the team's seventh defenseman.
There's no obvious solution here. The free agent market is weak and trading for a puck-moving defenseman is expensive. For now, Brunette will have to roll with what he has and hope for the best.
Brady Martin, Joakim Kemell, Ozzy Wiesblatt fighting for spots
Ten forwards are locks to make the team: O'Reilly, Wood, Bourque, Drury, Colton, Kerfoot, Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Nils Hoglander.
Who gets the final three spots? Here are the seven forwards jockeying for position.
- Brady Martin (C/RW) — 19 years old, 6-foot, 187 pounds, right-handed, waivers exempt
- Joakim Kemell (LW/RW) — 22 years old, 5-11, 183 pounds, right-handed, waivers exempt
- Ozzy Wiesblatt (C/RW) — 24 years old, 5-10, 183 pounds, right-handed, must clear waivers
- Adam Edstrom (C/LW) — 25 years old, 6-7, 240 pounds, left-handed, must clear waivers
- Reid Schaefer (LW) — 23 years old, 6-4, 218 pounds, left-handed, must clear waivers
- Cole O'Hara (RW) — 24 years old, 6-foot, 187 pounds, right-handed, waivers exempt
- Vitali Pinchuk (C) — 24 years old, 6-3, 203 pounds, left-handed, must clear waivers, day-to-day with an upper body injury
Based on camp performance, Martin and Kemell are winning those roster spots. But, being waivers exempt, they could also begin the season in AHL Milwaukee. That would open the door for Wiesblatt, Schaefer or Edstrom to steal one or two of those final three spots. Pinchuk, who signed a one-year deal out of the KHL in April, is dealing with an upper body injury and could start the year on injured reserve.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at @alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Three things we've learned about the Nashville Predators in training camp
