Pre-Season Review

The pre-season is just around the corner and the Nashville Predators and Fans are ready then ever to get things under way. There have been a few new additions added to the team since last season and one of the biggest of them all is acquiring Mike Cammalleri who will be a fan favorite. Preds needed a top notch goal scorer desperately. Cammalleri will be the Preds inspiration to take the team to new heights this season and improve the first line incredible. Patrice Bergeron will most likly be setup with Cammalleri on the first line since he can pass the puck with grace. Bergeron should work well with Cammalleri since both are highly skilled players. Also returning back to the first line will be Jason Pominville who should also have good chemistry with the two other forwards in preforming well this season.

On the second line will be hard working center Craig Conroy. The old man did well last season and should be perfect match with Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora. This will be the Preds most experienced line up on the team. they can score some goals if need be. Saturday will be Miroslav Satan first game with the Preds and the Fans can't wait to see what he could bring to the table. Conroy will be a great leader with the two wingers and could increase the chances of both forwards getting around 20+ goals this season. There also could be a chance that sniper Patrick O'Sullivan could be used on the second line if things don't work out with Satan, Sykora and Conroy.

Daymond Langkow who just signed a new  3 year contract over the off-season will be placed on the third with O'Sully and Dainius Zubrus. The two vets should help Patrick's A game helping him improve his skills that lacked last season. Both Langkow and Zubrus well be good mentors for Patrick and should be able to give him confidence he needs to increase his chances of being a solid player for the future. Rookie line will be formed up with David Perron who will be given a chance to stay on full time this season since he did so remarkable well with Milwaukee last year and definitely deserves it. Playing on the right will be two-way forward Ryan Callahan. This kid has skill from scoring goals to killing penalties and has the potential to be a future Captain. Callahan Is also can be a good replacement on the second or third line if there is any injuries.

The youngest player of them all and Nashville's future franchise center Sam Gagner is excited about his second season withe Preds. During his rookie year last was very tough on the talented teenager. Gagner gave it his all in each game he played in trying to fit in with the team even thoe his numbers where not as expected to be. Gagner will be seeing under 10 mins per game since he is still fragile and needs to bulk up more before he will be used as a top six. However it will be exciting to see how well Sam works with Perron and Callahan this season.

Defence will stay the same since it was the Preds most strongest department in the league. Roman Hamrlik and Michal Rozsival will be used as the Preds top defence line With  Toni Lydman and  Tom Poti on the second. Paul Ranger and Matt Niskanen will be paired up on the third.

Niklas Backstrom will be the Preds starter for his second season and with Chris Mason being traded away this off-season due to fanascil reasons Brent Johnson will be Backstroms new backup goalie. Niklas has so much potential to be a elite goaltender this year that could help the team advance right into the finals. He was the teams top player last year and will contuine where he left off.

The Preds first pre-season game will be held in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Saturday night. It should be a very interesting match up to see how will the Prerds will preform. All areas in the club have been improved greatly by GM Wilson. Nashville will be more of an offensive threat this season with a strong defensive core and a top notch goalie between the pipes. This is the Preds year to shine and fans are predicting that the team will bring home its first MRFHL Cup in franchise history. 

Nashville GM,