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The Predators’ goalie Pekka Rinne is back playing at a Vézina-calibre level, posting a .939 even-strength save percentage.Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

It wasn't that long ago that the Nashville Predators were a force in the Western Conference.

Coming out of the season-long lockout, this was a 106-point team in 2005-2006, and it followed that up with 110 points the following season. The Predators' expansion-market success story was rivalled by few others. They finished fifth in scoring that second year, with Paul Kariya leading a group of nine players who finished the season with 16 goals or more.

With the salary cap at its lowest point, they were deep up front and on defence, they had good goaltending and they appeared to be a Stanley Cup threat. But they never left the first round.

That may explain why skepticism surrounds this franchise, which has been atop the standings before but has never gone deep into the postseason.

Nashville has the best record in the NHL as the Toronto Maple Leafs limp into town, but you wouldn't know it by scanning the headlines week to week. The Predators are still not a sexy team – even with Team Canada darling Shea Weber as the captain – and they're often regarded in this country only as one of Gary Bettman's expansion curiosities.

But they have all the elements of a postseason contender after two years in the wilderness. Why are they better? Three key things have come together:

1. Pekka Rinne

Sidelined with major hip surgery most of last season, Nashville's No. 1 netminder is back playing at a Vézina-calibre level, posting a .939 even-strength save percentage that is bettered by only Montreal's Carey Price among regular starters. The Preds are a ridiculous 29-6-2 with Rinne in goal, making the 32-year-old Finn a legit candidate for the Hart Trophy.

2. A deceptively dangerous offence

General manager David Poile took a lot of heat last season for not providing former coach Barry Trotz with enough weapons, but internal growth has solved quite a few of those holes. Rookie Filip Forsberg, at 20 years old, is emerging as a star. Colin Wilson and Craig Smith are excelling in new coach Peter Laviolette's more dynamic offensive system, as is the team's back end, with big contributions from youth (four of the team's top six blueliners are under 25).

3. Mike Ribeiro

He hit rock bottom last season in Arizona. The Coyotes offered a damning portrayal of Ribeiro's off-ice issues after buying him out, saying they could not tolerate his behaviour. In the off-season, Ribeiro entered the NHL's substance-abuse rehab program and sought the serenity of Nashville for another chance, more for his family than anything, and he has been a revelation in producing at a 72-point pace.

He turns 35 next week and may well be enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.

The other comeback story here is that of the market itself. The Preds are playing to 98-per-cent capacity on the season at their little rink in Nashville, which puts them ahead of 12 other U.S.-based teams.

Relocation isn't in the conversation any more.

"It's a great place to watch a game," Laviolette told NHL.com last week. "It's a non-traditional market, but people know sports."

All that's missing in Nashville is some postseason success, and that's going to be the true test of what they have achieved this season. They play in the best division in the league and lack a true No. 1 centre, something that will make it difficult to beat the best the West in a seven-game series.

But what you have to like is there's some staying power to their record. No longer is this simply a bar-the-door defensive team the way it was under Trotz: The Predators can score, and they're getting more of that from young players such as Forsberg, Seth Jones and Ryan Ellis, who will only improve over time.

Two-and-a-half years ago, when Weber signed that behemoth offer sheet with the Flyers and the Preds matched, many felt he had locked himself into a no-win situation. Now Nashville is on top, Philadelphia is a mess and after some lean years, there's a lot to like on this roster.

They just might surprise some people come April. They're overdue for that.

The NHL's most improved teams year-to-year

 

Team

Last season

This season*

Difference

1

NY ISLANDERS

79

109

30

2

NASHVILLE

88

117

29

3

FLORIDA

66

91

25

4

DETROIT

93

110

17

5

CALGARY

77

93

16

6

VANCOUVER

83

97

14

7

WINNIPEG

84

96

12

8

MONTREAL

100

112

12


*- 82-game point pace prior to Monday's games

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