Carolina Hurricanes (0-0-0 SU, 0-0 PL, 0-0-0 OU) vs Nashville Predators (0-0-0 SU, 0-0 PL, 0-0-0 OU)
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 8, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee
Lines: Nashville -190
Total: 5
The Carolina Hurricanes hope that a few shrewd moves in the offseason by GM Ron Francis will help get them out of last place in the Metropolitan Division, while the Nashville Predators look to build on a surprising season that saw them post 104 points. This should be an interesting season in both cities this year.
The Carolina Hurricanes were the worst team in the Metropolitan Division as they grabbed just 71 points on the year. The team really didn’t make a lot of moes to change the fortunes of a squad that hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2009, but what was done was very shrewd by GM Ron Francis. The first move was to dump Alexander Semin huge contract in a trade for Goalie Eddie Lack, who immediately upgrades a bad position on the team. The addition of 5th round draft pick, Noah Hanifin is also huge for the team as heb has franchise player written all over him.
The rest of the team pretty much returns intact and Ron feels that they must have patience with the core players that include Cam Ward, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner. They do need more production from Staal and Skinners as the pair combined for just 41 goals last year. The Hurricanes are also hoping that youngsters Victor Rask and Elias Lindstrom will continue to progress. This is not a team that is built to win now as they continue to build for the future. It will be another long year in Carolina.
The Nashville Predators were picked by many to finish last in their division last year, but new coach Peter Laviolette had other ideas as he led them to a 2nd place finish in the Central with a 104 points. They did bow out in the first round of the playoffs, but still it was a very successful year for the team. GM Dave Poile was so impressed with his core players that he stood pat on making any huge moves, but rather decided to work on depth in the offseason.
Depth is important for a team that seemed to run out of gas late last year as they finished just 6-12-3 in their last 21 games. The additions were minor, but should pay off in the end. Cody Hodgson, Steve Moses and Barrett Jackman were all UFA’s and should pay dividends for this team, especially down the stretch. The core of this team is very strong as evidenced by the fact that they were in the hunt for the President’s Cup for most of last year, until that late season swoon. Now with the added depth they just may have the pieces in place for a deep run in the playoffs.
Trends
Carolina is:
- 19-39 their last 58 road games
- 18-41 in their last 59 when playing on 3 or more days rest.
Nashville Is:
- Host is 6-1 the last 7 in the series
- Nashville is 5-1 the last 6 at home in the series.
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Free NHL Pick: Nashville
The Hurricanes are not a good team this year and I don’t give them any chance at stealing this one in Nashville vs a team hat looks stronger than last year’s team that put up 104 points on the board. The Preds are not a strong offensive team, but they do play defense very well and have a very solid goalie in Pekka Rinne, who had 41 wins and allowed just 2.18 gpg last year. The Hurricanes have very little in the way of offense and Cam Ward is not as strong in goal as he once was. Look for the Preds to start the season at 1-0 with a solid win tonight.
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