One stat shows Predators playoff hopes were over before Johansen injury
Earlier this week, Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile made an appearance on a local sports radio show where he discussed his plans at the trade deadline. He said the team was still in a gray area in regards to making the playoffs and reminded everyone that when the Predators went to the Stanley Cup […]
Earlier this week, Nashville Predators General Manager David Poile made an appearance on a local sports radio show where he discussed his plans at the trade deadline. He said the team was still in a gray area in regards to making the playoffs and reminded everyone that when the Predators went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, it was after squeaking into the playoffs as the lowest-seeded team. He tried to inspire confidence by pointing out that the Eastern Conference has some clear Cup favorites, but the Western Conference has a lot of teams in the hunt for that spot.
If you stayed up late last night to watch the Predators trounce the San Jose Sharks 6-2, you might feel like things are trending in the right direction for the Predators to make good on David Poile's appeal to fans. Sure, it seemed like the loss of Ryan Johansen signaled the end of the Predators chances, especially when coupled with Forsberg's continued absence due to injury. However, a solid win against the Sharks right after a win against the Canucks sure makes it seem like David Poile may be on to something, right?
Well, it's not that simple. First, as of publication, the Predators sit 5 points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames are between the two teams, one point behind Colorado and 4 points ahead of the Predators. Winning games against lower-ranked teams (such as the Canucks) and bad teams (such as the Sharks) will certainly help by piling up points, but it will also take those teams ahead of the Predators losing some games along the way in order to make up any ground. At this point, the Predators will have to continue winning and rely on the teams currently in playoff spots to lose games at a faster pace if they want a chance to head to the postseason.
Of course, this isn't the most concerning part of the issue. On that radio show on Tuesday, Poile drew attention to the Western Conference by saying that there was no clear favorite to win the Cup. First, he's right. But the implication is that the Predators are a part of the group of teams that have a chance…if they can just make it to the playoffs and see what happens, maybe history will repeat itself.
Recall the criticism levied at the team earlier this season: the Predators can't win games against better teams. If the Predators were able to somehow close out the season on a streak hotter than they've had all season, and the teams ahead of them went cold, how would the Predators fare against the rest of the Western Conference in the playoffs?
Here's a quick look at how the Predators have performed so far this season against the current playoff teams:
When you take into consideration that one these teams, and most likely one of them at the top of the standings, would be the Predators first round match up, it's hard to hold out hope that they'd make it through the first round. Keep in mind their record of 4-10-4 came with help of a healthy Ryan Johansen AND Filip Forsberg. Johansen will, likely, not be back this season and Forsberg is yet to return. David Poile can try to inspire hope on the radio by bringing up the Cup Final run of 2017, but that seems to be getting smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. It's time to face the future and use the upcoming trade deadline to get a head start on steps that will move the team forward.
-featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA Today Sports-
