Nashville Predators: 2 Players Who Will Bounce Back Next Season

With the off-season starting to slow down a bit, we now have a better idea of every team's roster going into next season. Of course there will be other moves, but the craziness from the Expansion Draft and first day of free agency is officially done.

In this segment, we will be taking a look at two players from each NHL team who are set to bounce back next season. Sometimes players will have down seasons, but end up completely turning it around in the following one. This will inevitably happen for this upcoming year, too.

In this one, we will be looking at the Nashville Predators. These two specific players each have an average annual value of $8 million for multiple seasons, so it is a necessity for them to bounce back. They are each capable of being top-six forwards, but the way they produced this season did not show that. They even were both left unprotected at the Expansion Draft. Yet, a turnaround should be in order for both of them.

Matt Duchene C: Matt Duchene is coming off of the worst season of his NHL career. In 34 games this season with the Predators, the 30-year-old only had six goals and recorded 13 points. This should end up being a fluke, though, as he has shown throughout his career that he is a strong point-producer. Keep in mind, he is just two years removed from 70-point campaign. It would be shocking if he continues to produce this little next season.

Ryan Johansen C: Ryan Johansen performed a bit better than Duchene this season, but it was still a rough year for his standards. In 48 games, he scored seven goals and had 22 points, which is far below his previous totals. He was on pace for roughly 38 points in an 82-game schedule. Two seasons ago, he had 14 goals and 64 points in 80 games. That is the type of offense we should expect to see Johansen be closer to next season. There's too much talent there.