1998-99 record: 28-47-7, 63 points, 4th Central Division
Coach: Barry Trotz (28-47-7, one year as Predators coach)
New faces: C David Legwand, LW Phil Crowe, D Craig Millar, G Corey Hirsch, C Steve Washburn, C Randy Robitaille
Losses: G Eric Fichaud, LW Andrew Brunette, C Jeff Nelson, LW Denny Lambert, D Jamie Heward, D John Slaney
Strengths: Everyone expected G Mike Dunham to carry the load in the Predators' expansion season. But no one expected unheralded backup Tomas Vokoun to win the spot as his backup. Vokoun was 12-18-4 with a shutout and a 2.95 goals-against average. As expected, Trotz's team was a hard-working bunch. Of Nashville's 47 losses, 27 were by one or two goals. The Predators are solid up the middle, with midseason acquisition Cliff Ronning, Greg Johnson and 19-year-old Legwand. RW Sergei Krivokrasov is a legitimate scoring threat on the wing after a breakout 25-goal season. If C Sebastien Bordeleau can come back from a career-threatening neck injury, he provides a speedy defensive presence while killing penalties.
Weaknesses: This team is still several years away, despite the coaching of Trotz and the moves made by GM David Poile. Nashville lacks size and, following the trade of Denny Lambert, toughness, particularly up front. At 6-3, Dunham is the tallest player on the roster. Not surprisingly, the Predators have a long way to go on special teams. They ranked last in penalty-killing at 79 percent and 25th on the power play at 12.3 percent. Heward was expected to quarterback the power play, but he left via free agency. That role falls on Kimmo Timonen, who had 12 points as a rookie.
Trotz says: "I think we've got to get our goals-against down this year. We're still sorting through our defensemen. We've really got to be a lot more consistent there. We have to improve on both our special teams. If we're able to do that, I think we've sort of got a young group of guys. Everybody's in that 20-26 age group that if we can grow together and keep adding a David Legwand, a Brian Finley and some of our top picks, keep some of our core guys like Greg Johnson and Tommy Fitzgerald, we'll be able to make strides and move up the ladder a bit. But there's a big discrepancy yet from us and some of the top teams."