Playing Time for Anderson-Dolan Won't Come Just Yet With Predators

Jaret Anderson-Dolan has been one of those young players who have had a hard transition from the AHL to the NHL. He has regularly been a strong and impactful player in the minors, but adjusting to a different role hasn't been as easy and it has caused the 24-year-old to still be spending time at the bottom of the lineup, as a healthy scratch, or even in the AHL.

The second time this season that Anderson-Dolan was placed on waivers by the Los Angeles Kings, he didn't clear. The Nashville Predators took advantage right before the trade deadline and picked him up. But it has now almost been three weeks and he has yet to get into a game for the Predators.

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This isn't necessarily out of the ordinary as the Predators are in the midst of a 17-game point streak, so why mess with lines or chemistry? The Predators are currently holding two extras at forward with Cody Glass sitting in the press box for games as well for the time being.

If Anderson-Dolan is going to get into a game for the Predators, it is going to take a couple of losses and the coach thinking that the lineup needs a bit of a shuffle or new look to get the team back on track. The Predators are playing great right now, so there isn't a worry that the team is just holding onto the point streak. They are still playing one-sided hockey and are coming off back-to-back shutouts as well.

For Anderson-Dolan to be successful on the Predators and find a place on the team and in the NHL, he is going to have to figure out how to be an effective bottom-six player. His junior days and even his 2021-22 AHL season proved he can produce offensively, but Nashville has a lot of young players who will all be vying for that role down the stretch and in the future.

Anderson-Dolan is a RFA this summer, but I do believe he will get a game or two for the Predators before the end of the season. Maybe it will come when the team has clinched a playoff spot.

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