[vincesanity82]

Who's In? Radek Bonk, C (Mon); Greg de Vries, D (Atl); Dan Ellis, G (Dal); Martin Gelinas, W (Fla); Jed Ortmeyer, W (NYR); Shane Willis, F (Car)

Who's Out? Ramzi Abid, F; Peter Forsberg, F (injured); Scott Hartnell, W (Phi); Paul Kariya, W (StL); Kimmo Timonen, D (Phi); Vitaly Vishnevski, D (NJ); Tomas Vokoun, G (Fla)

What's Changed? Quite a bit, really. In fact, I'd argue that the Predators' roster changed more than any other Western Conference team, the result of a need to get cheaper in light of some ownership shuffling taking place (you may have heard about it over the summer).

Nashville does lose quite a few of those face of the franchise types in Vokoun, Kariya, Timonen and Hartnell, and for that reason, many are picking the Preds to sink to the bottom of the pack of playoff-bound clubs.

Yet, even with all of the exits, there are a lot of solid producers here, youngsters who are more than capable of playing bigger minutes. Alex Radulov comes to mind first, and his 64-game, 37-point rookie season was absolutely the tip of the iceberg given he's going to be a consistent 30-goal a season type once he gets going.

Who's on the Hook? With Steve Sullivan on the shelf to start the season, Jason Arnott's been named captain and he'll need a bigger year than the 54 points he managed last season. David Legwand's another veteran up front who they'll need to build on his breakout campaign of last year.

The real pressure, however, is going to be all Mason's. He's been a top-notch 'tender in junior and the minors, but this is his first real shot at prolonged full-time duty in the NHL, and without much of a safety net, he's going to have to shine.

Where They'll Finish: Don't listen to the pundits (aside from me, I mean); this is a playoff team, if only because the Central Division remains weak outside of the Red Wings. Nashville is one of the best-coached teams in the league and has a dominant penalty killing unit that has been reinforced with the likes of Gelinas, Bonk and Ortmeyer this season.

They'll be difficult to score on as long as Mason holds the fort and there's enough firepower here to possibly even be competitive with Detroit.

NHL Season Preview: Nashville Predators - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

[blueandwhite]

Yeah, Arnott is captain, Sullivan and old Sabre Dupont will wear the A's. Arnott used to be talked about alot, last few seasons, people have ben quiet so he's most on the hook to show what he still has.
Fans'll miss kariya.