Welcome to another exciting edition of Stanley’s Post Office. As always, you can reach out to me on Twitter @RStanleyNHL with your hard-hitting hockey questions. Here are some of your latest questions from the world of Twitter regarding the Nashville Predators:
Just like changing lines, how big is adding a new player to a lineup on a chemistry standpoint? Even with a big addition, how would you want to break up the top two lines? – @Johnygonzo
I think it depends on the role of the player, but there’s no doubt it can be a big move, and I think general managers around the NHL have to strike that balance of doing what it takes to help your team without doing too much. I think for this Predators team specifically, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. They’ve had several big moves that have been made during the past couple of seasons and each player has fit into the locker room without issue.
When healthy, I like the top two lines the way they are. However, if they were to land a big name forward (like Rick Nash), I would be open to splitting up the second line and moving either Kevin Fiala or Craig Smith down to the third line. Although even if the player that was acquired (Nash for argument’s sake) was placed on the third line, that’s pretty good scoring depth either way. I don’t anticipate chemistry being much of an issue, regardless of what the Predators do or don’t do at the trading deadline.
Gut feeling…if Poile does make a move for Hoffman, Pacioretty or Nash, is he willing to float Fabbro out as the main piece? – @JacobSeibert4
I would be very hesitant to float Dante Fabbro, Nashville’s first round pick in 2016, as a trade piece if it can be avoided. Having said that, I believe David Poile would be much more willing to deal Fabbro than he would be to deal prized prospect Eeli Tolvanen.
The Predators are in a position where they don’t HAVE to do anything at the deadline. If a deal comes along that Poile believes will help his team win the Stanley Cup without costing too much, he will do it. If the prices remain as high as Poile claims they are right now, the Predators won’t do anything. Fabbro is having a better season this year than he did a year ago, and the Predators have already traded away Samuel Girard earlier this season to the Colorado Avalanche in the Kyle Turris deal. At some point you have to make sure you have defensemen ready to go in the pipeline in case you’re not able to retain all of your top four defensemen on the roster right now a few years down the road.
But…..I would be willing to consider dealing Fabbro for the right player if I were Poile. I would not be willing to move Tolvanen.
Should Forsberg or Subban be this team’s MVP? If not them then who? – @AdamZielinski16
I think you could make a strong case for either player, but I would probably give it to P.K. Subban at this point. Obviously I think an equally strong argument could be made for Pekka Rinne, who has had a consistently good season thus far.
Subban leads the team in points and has been rock solid defensively for the most part this year. If you ask me, I think he belongs in the discussion for the Norris Trophy. Sometimes I think he can go underappreciated in Nashville because he has three other defensemen in Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm who are so good.
I would give the MVP to Subban at this point, but Rinne is right there with him.
