INSIDE HOCKEY

On February 15, GM David Poile completed the most significant trade in the franchise's brief history by acquiring center Peter Forsberg from Philadelphia in exchange for former first rounders Scottie Upshall (2002) and Ryan Parent (2005) and the Predators' first and third round draft picks in the 2007 entry draft.

"You go over the history of the league, and there's always significant deals made at the trading deadline," Poile said. "Arguably, has there ever been a better player traded at the trading deadline than Peter Forsberg?"

"My answer is probably not, and the price we paid was very high. We did it because we believed it was a necessary ingredient to give us that much better of a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup," said Poile.

Showing flashes of scoring potential and grit, Scottie Upshall never lived up to the Nashville coaching staff's expectations, mostly due to injury. Ryan Parent should develop into a steady stay-at-home defenseman for the Flyers in time, but he would not be able to crack the Predators' depth at defense for years to come. Scouts for the Predators speculate that the 2007 entry draft will be weaker than average at best.

Upshall had 11 goals and 29 points in 77 games as a Predator over four NHL seasons. To date, Upshall looks to be fitting in well with the Flyers by scoring two goals and three points in three games.

With the Predators having lost six of the last ten games, the Red Wings are sitting one point ahead of Nashville for first place in the Central Division.

"There's no such thing as panic time," Nashville forward Steve Sullivan said. "We know what's in this dressing room. We know what's got to be done. It's just a matter of going out and playing to our strengths and our skill will take over."

Importance of Defensive Depth for the Playoffs

Vitali Vishnevski was added on February 10th to provide a hard-hitting, stay-at-home defensive presence that the Predators have not iced in recent years. Although Nashville currently has one of the deepest stocked prospect corps of defensemen, Shea Weber is the only true bruiser ready to play against any opposing line. While rookie Greg Zanon also has good size, he is more of a penalty kill specialist and does not play against the opposing team's top lines.

“With Vishnevski, we are adding a big, strong, physical defenseman with over 400 NHL games of experience and two deep runs into the postseason,” said Poile. “We have been carrying 15 forwards on the roster for most of the season. This gives us some veteran depth on the blue line and gives our roster more balance.”

Nashville traded the underachieving center Josef Vasicek back to Carolina for the speedy, third-line center Eric Belanger. Belanger was slated to contribute to the Predators' penalty kill and help with one of this year’s biggest problems - face-offs. Less than 24 hours later, Belanger was traded to Atlanta for Vishnevski. GM David Poile felt that Vishnevski filled a more pressing need than having Belanger as a role player.

Last year, tough defenseman Brendan Witt was acquired at the trade deadline, but his best contribution was educating a hungry-to-learn Shea Weber on how to play with an edge. Witt wanted a new multi-year contract, but the Predators only offered a one-year deal. Both sides agreed it was best to move on.

It still remains to be seen if any last minute deadline deals will be made to pick up an eighth defenseman for a deep playoff run. After losing several key defensemen to the injury bug in last year's playoffs, the Buffalo Sabres are the NHL's measuring stick for the importance of defensive depth and how it relates to playoff success.

Power-Play Reeling

The Nashville Predators had early success on the power-play this season, but have only two tallies in 30 attempts over the last two weeks (6.67%). In fact, since the All-Star break, the Predators have only lit the lamp for six goals in 57 attempts (10.53%). The coaching staff's goal on the man-advantage is to have an efficiency rating at or above 20%.

Going in the opposite direction is the very successful penalty kill. Nashville currently has the third best penalty kill (86.2%) after starting the season in 30th place.

Ice Chips

League-wide, Nashville ranks fourth in goals-per-game with 3.31 and fourth in goals-against with 2.48... The Predators have the third ranked penalty kill (86.2%) and the 23rd ranked power-play (16.3%)... David Legwand has an astounding +29 rating in 58 games and leads the team in goals at home with +15. Jordin Tootoo rounds out the team with a -10 rating in 49 games.

Jason Arnott (fifth) ranks among the league-leaders in game-winning goals... Chris Mason leads the league with a .928 save percentage... The Predators have more 40-point players (seven) on its roster than any other NHL team this season. Four players (Arnott, Hartnell, Legwand, and Sullivan) have scored at least 20 goals this season.

Injuries

Vitali Vishnevski is day-to-day with a swollen knee.

Kimmo Timonen is day-to-day with an upper body injury.

Jordin Tootoo is day-to-day with a sore hip.