UPDATE: Preds have cut roster down to 23 for opening night. Tomasino has been sent to Milwaukee. He's not subject to waivers, so the decision is understandable to give him for experience playing top minutes. I expect we will see him back in gold sooner rather than later. Sanford and McCarron win out for now. Hynes sticking to his strong, physical mentality and sending the smaller, more skilled Tomasino due to Sherwood playing well and keeping the spot in the top 6.

Happy Monday and Happy hockey season Smashville! It's great to be back!

The Preds hit the ground running this weekend taking both games in Prague to open the season against the Sharks. Winning the first 4-1 and the second 3-2, it’s a nice start to see the offensive wheels turning with both familiar and unfamiliar faces adding their names to the scoresheet. A short training camp and heading to Europe for two regular season games a full week before the rest of the league can make the process tough, but the team showed up and performed well. Obvious adjustment are needed, but nothing genuine to take issue with the performance at this time. The first line with Forsberg, Granlund, Duchene, looked solid with Duchene finding the back of the net in the first game for an empty netter and Forsberg getting his first in the second game. Goals are goals at this point in the season, no matter how. Confidence needs to build earlier for these guys.

The second line looks like its woes may have been solved with the addition of Nino and then Sherwood demonstrated he’s going to fight every night for his spot. Netting one early in the first game is definitely a good start and filling a void that this team has been missing for years, secondary scoring. Nino scoring three goals in two games is a nice trend we’d love to continue.

Penalties, although a few eeak calls, remain the Achilles' heel of this team. Game 1 demonstrated this perfectly with the team starting strong and getting a quick goal but then a few penalties saw the momentum shift almost immediately.

As for the defense, the pairings looked solid with a bit of chemistry needing to be worked out here and there. As the broadcast repeatedly said, the addition of McDonaugh will permit the defense to fill their appropriate spots whereas last year everyone seemed to be having to play a bit differently than they would prefer. A true top 4 now exist with the bottom 3 seeking to play a more physical game. I think Fabbro can take a big leap this year. Getting up in the rush more was great to see on Nino's goal on Friday. I like the potential for the back end this year, supporting the rush and supporting Saros as well.

Nonetheless, it was a great start to take 4 big points in Europe. Opening Night is Thursday against the Stars. Dallas is a hard team to gauge this year so it will be interesting to see how the Preds start as they continue their season stateside.

Here we go for a big 2022-23 season!

Other News:

Preds Goalie Connor Ingram, among others, was placed on waivers yesterday. After his performance last season in Milawukee and then in the playoffs, I thought he’d have a good chance to make the team this year. The signing of Lankinen seemed to make this a tough break from the start. Hope to keep him in the organization, but it seems like Saros and Lankinen are the ones finding a permanent home in Nashville for now. I’m a fan of Lankinen, so I’m willing to watch this story play out.

Final cuts to be made today to make it down to the 23-man NHL roster. One more to go.

Forwards (15)

Forsberg
Granlund
Duchene
Nino
Johansen
Sherwood
Tomasino
Trenin
Sissons
Jeannot
Smith
Glass
Tolvanen
McCarron
Sanford

Defensemen (7)

Josi
Carrier
McDonaugh
Ekholm
Fabbro
Borowiecki
Lauzon

Goalies (2)

Saros
Lankinen

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