The Predators are about to SHOCK the NHL...

The Nashville Predators are about to shock the NHL as they have made some key acquisitions this offseason, which ranks them very high amongst their NHL counterparts. In this video, we're going to break down everything about the Nashville Predators and talk about where we're going to see them end up in the standings at the end of next season. So you're not going to want to miss this episode of NHL Digest. But before we dive into everything here on the channel, I just want to give a huge shout out to today's sponsor, Prize Picks. Prize Picks is America's number one sports picks app and is the best way to get in on all the action, whether it's the FIFA World Cup Final that's happening on Sunday, whether it's MLB, Prize Picks has you covered. 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As I alluded to, the Nashville Predators are at the one spot this season, improving a net rating of plus 27, which is absolutely absurd, and when you look at the players they added, you're kind of sitting back thinking, wow, like really? The Predators at number one? But we're going to talk about why in this video. So let's take a look at what they did add this offseason, obviously the big one being Maverick Bork in a huge trade with the Dallas Stars which brought him to Nashville, a great young player in this league, can play center, can play right wing. I think Predators fans are going to fall in love with him early on in next season. Then you bring in Ross Colton, Jack Drury, and Alex Kerfoot who can all play the penalty killing unit and really round out your bottom six. And then you bring in Niels Hoglander who can fit on that fourth line and just put some points up when you need them to. And let's just take a look at what they did have to say in this article, it says if you're surprised by Nashville landing the top spot, that makes two of us, it admittedly is a weird result given the headline addition is Maverick Bork who put up 41 points last year, he's a good player but in a summer with some big names changing addresses, Nashville is an odd choice to lead the pack. This is why he also had to say a bunch of third line additions isn't that meaningful in a vacuum, replacing a bunch of fourth liners and sub-replacement level players with those guys is. Nashville's forward group started this summer in the bottom five, it's a lot closer to average now. So let's take a look at their lineup because obviously that top line with Steven Samkos, Rhino, and Luke Evangelista, that's a good line, like Steven Samkos had a monster year last year still putting up 42 goals. And then you have Phillip Forsberg now on the second line with Maverick Bork who I really think they're going to really complement each other's games as Forsberg is known for goal scoring, he's known for his playmaking, and Maverick Bork can just make plays happen out of nothing, he's great off the rush as well. And when you have Matthew Wood, a good sound defensive guy centering your position, I think is really going to make for an amazing line here, and I really do think Forsberg and Bork are going to be fantastic together this season. Then your third line, you have Ross Colton, Vitaly Pinchuk, who we're going to talk about in a minute, who's a Russian coming out of the KHL, who you got to keep your eye out for. And then you have Jonathan Marshachow, who yeah, maybe he had a down season than what you were anticipating, but I do think the dog is still in him, and you know, just takes the right line mates to make this guy into the player he once was. And then that third line, pure, you know, grinder type fourth line, guys who can just bang the bodies, win the board battles, and make some offense happen on a semi-nightly basis. And I do want to dive into this Vitaly Pinchuk, who's coming out of the KHL, where last year he had 65 games, he had 66 points, over a point per game in the KHL at 24 years old, is actually crazy. 31 goals, 35 assists, I mean this guy is the next prodigy to kind of come out of Russia, and the Nashville Predators are so lucky to have him in their lineup. And having him centering this third line, he's a guy who's great at finishing, another guy who's great off the rush as well, and he can just make plays happen with his hands, with his shot, with his speed, he's just an all-around good centerman, and having him on the third line with a guy like Jonathan Marchachaud, who kind of needs a little bit of a boost to boost his numbers up, Pinchuk is the right guy to do so here in my opinion, and I think Predators fans are really going to love this guy going into next season. So keep an eye out on him, and I do want to talk about the Predators and their division, because when you look at this roster that we just talked about, the forward core really got rounded out, right? Last year, after the top line, even between the top two lines, the third and fourth line were barely generating any offense, and they couldn't get anything going, which led to their demise last season, and to them not making the playoffs, so what did they do? They said, hey, we don't need to make a big swing at a big player here, let's just fix the holes that we have, and that's what they did, and that's why they're rated so high on this list, which brings their forward core from god-awful to pretty good, I mean, average above average, depending on the night, so I think National Predators fans, I don't think you should still hang your head low, because you still have a great defensive core with Roman Yossi, you have Yussi Saros between the pipes, and now a forward core that can make some offense happen, I think, obviously, it's a stacked Central Division, there's no doubt about it, you've got teams like Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota, who are going to be powerhouses, but if you can compete with the Mammoth, the Blues, and the Jets, you have a chance, and obviously the Blues traded a lot away, so I do think that you will be better than them, and, you know, depending on the night, I think you could be better than the Jets and the Mammoth as well, so I think you put yourself in a key position to fight this season and, you know, try to battle for that playoffs spot, obviously you've got veteran guys like Stamkos and O'Reilly and Forsberg and Yossi and, you know, even Saros, who all want to get back to playing playoff hockey, and I do think with, you know, a mix of younger and veteran guys, this seems going to be a fun team to watch this year, and I think guys like Stamkos are going to have a good year, I think Forsberg is going to have a good year, and I think Maverick Bork is going to have an even better year when he's playing with such an elite talent like Phillip Forsberg, so it's all coming up for National Predators fans, and I'm so happy for you guys, because you guys have been through a lot over the years, and it's looking good right now, and who knows, another acquisition could be coming your way if need be, but once again, I do want to give a huge shout out to today's sponsor PrizePix, like I said, go down below, hit in the description, in the pinned comment, hit the link down in the app, use code Digest, get that $50 free when you play your first five, and right now they have some great promotions on, like Taco Tuesday and Flex Friday, where there are boosted predictions and boosted lineups and projections, so make sure to take advantage of that by going down below, in the pinned comment, in the description, hitting the link down in the app, and using code Digest, but I want to hear from you, National Predators fans, how are you feeling, are you as high on the team as a lot of people are ranking them, do you think they're going to make the playoffs, because right now, I really think they're in a spot where they could, let me know what you think, if you enjoyed leave a like, subscribe to the channel, as always, everybody knows KC, keep your stick on the ice.