Predators Iced 3 of the Best Defensive Pairings of the Last 15 Years
By Rob Couch,
2024-04-09
The Nashville Predators have been known as a defensive team for most of their existence and that comes with drafting, developing, and acquiring great defensive talent. It seems that, unlike any other organization, the Predators are able to consistently ice some great defensive pairings.
Over the past 15 years, this is true in that three different pairings have ranked among the top-25 over that span. This is based off of Goal Share at five-on-five over multiple seasons with at least 1000+ minutes together.
Based on this, the Predators' pairing of Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis rank 10th, Roman Josi and Ellis rank 17th, and Josi and Dante Fabbro rank 24th.
The best statistical pairing that the Predators have ever iced, Ekholm and Ellis, have a 59.8% Goal Share together in 2529.5 minutes played. This was a great pairing in the time when the team was very good. Ellis was underrated when healthy, but unfortunately health became an issue in his career and he hasn't played for a couple of years. As for Ekholm, seeing what he is doing with the Edmonton Oilers right now with Evan Bouchard is amazing. There were signs of how good he could be and what kind of a player he already was with the Predators. This pairing of Ekholm and Ellis had an expected goal share (xGoal Share) of 55.5%, so they did execute better than expected by a decent amount.
In the 17th ranked pairing of Josi and Ellis, once again we see Ellis, indicating just how much of an impact he had on the ice and that he was not at all being carried by his partner. These two played together for 4069.4 minutes at five-on-five. Considering Josi is a very good defenseman at both ends of the ice, it is no surprise that these two are found here among the best over the past 15 years. Josi and Ellis' Goal Share was 57.6% and their xGoal Share was 52.7%.
Josi is still playing at a Norris-caliber level and a major reason why the team is in a playoff spot this season, but not many would've expected Fabbro's name to appear here considering how young he is and by comparing him to the caliber of players the rest of the pairings feature. But while Josi is more of the reason why this pairing is 24th, Fabbro's contributions shouldn't go unnoticed. This is also an argument as to why Fabbro should get back into the Predators' lineup instead of being a healthy scratch. This pairing is still active, meaning Josi and Fabbro could still be partners as they're on the same team. They have a goal share of 56.3% and a xGoal Share of 52.4%.
With three pairings ranking in the top-25 over the past 15 years, only the Boston Bruins have as many, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and Calgary Flames all having two pairs. The hope and expectation is that the Predators can keep icing a lot of great defensemen and pairings in the future.
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