Now that the Nashville Predators are just a few days away from their first exhibition games against the Florida Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette saw his team participate in a few scrimmages on Friday.
“I thought the pace was high, you don’t know what to expect on day two sometimes, I thought all three scrimmages were good,” Brunette said.
The second-year coach likes this level of competition from the team & the balance of managing the pace to stay healthy. As Nashville goes into Sunday’s doubleheader there’s an opportunity to see players go full force.
“I just want to see the best version of them through camp,” Brunette said. “When you get the lines together you hope to see a little chemistry. Everybody was good today it was hard to say who was where.”
Brunette wants to see which players can think fast & who it’s with. For most of Friday Philip Tomasino, Colton Sissons, & Luke Evangelista were alongside each other during scrimmages.
Defensemen Roman Josi & Brady Skjei were with each other on day two after being seen together to start training camp. Skjei has been playing on the left side whereas Josi can adjust to his off-hand.
For most of his career, Skjei has been on the left side but has made the move like Josi to be on the right. It’ll be something the two could use to their advantage as new teammates.
“He’s a special player in the offensive zone & great at joining the rush,” Skjei said of Josi. “I had the same partner in Carolina for three years with Brett Pesce & we had a good feel for each other. Just trying to do whatever I can to speed up that process of familiarity & try to contribute however I can.”
On the offensive side of the ice, Evangelista looks to build off his rookie campaign with Nashville. After posting 39 points in 80 games he walked through a few things he worked on this summer.
“On-ice my main focuses were my skating and my release. It was a nice blend of both of those,” Evangelista said. “Working on my first three steps, gaining a little separation, & cutbacks… With my release getting my shot off a little quicker & stronger.”
Since camp just started Evangelista hasn’t thought much about who he’ll play with but he’s been with Sissons & Tomasino a lot right out of the gate. The trio looked mature & comfortable when finding each other. Tomasino had a few goals in the scrimmage.
“I’m focusing on my own game right now but today it felt like we had some good chemistry going & we were able to find the back of the net. They were really good to play with today,” Evangelista said.
The 22-year-old just wants to be relied on as much as possible as he gets started this season & has an opportunity to showcase his ability in Nashville’s system. He took to heart what the Predators had to say about at his exit meeting from last season.
“Just carrying the momentum that I built for myself in the second half down the stretch there,” Evangelista said. “It felt like the tale of two seasons, just getting more accomplished in the second half & playing more offense which is my game.”
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photo courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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