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The Predators Are Panic Shopping For A Center
The Predators Are Panic Shopping For A Center
The Predators are off to a shaky start after an offseason spending spree that brought Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei to Nashville. The only problem is Barry Trotz has now realized he built a flawed team that’s weak down the middle of the ice.
“I’ve been working the phones,” Trotz recently told 102.5 The Game. “No one’s trading anybody right now. Maybe I would try to find another centerman, but no one’s giving their centerman away … the only thing we can do is internally.”
Nashville currently employs Ryan O’Reilly, Colton Sissons, Tommy Novak, and Michael McCarron down the middle of the ice. No disrespect to that group but it’s certainly not a Stanley Cup winning center unit. The best teams are strong down the middle with deep D cores. Nashville doesn’t have either.
An underrated story line is that this Preds team is old. If they can’t win now, this group never will. Roman Josi, Gus Nyquist, Stamkos, Marchessault, O’Reilly, etc are all at an advanced age. Do they have a single intriguing skater under the age of 30? It’s fair to question how long this window will even last…
Through nine games, Nashville is 3-5-1. Maybe it’s not time to panic quite yet, but it’s fairly obvious that if they don’t find another center, this team isn’t a real contender.
If Trotz wants to find a center to add to this group, maybe he can start by calling his old colleague Lou Lamoriello about impending free agent, Brock Nelson?
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