NHL | Juuse Saros saw the brutal side of the NHL – a teammate got his starting passes during the warm-up: “Very special”

Vancouver

Transfer rumours roared hot last spring Juuse Saros around.

The Nashville Predators emptied their cap before the transfer deadline. A big bang would have been arranged if any club had been willing to pay the price that the Predators would have been willing to give up their 27-year-old goalkeeper.

No trades were made. And it wasn’t even done in the summer, when rumors were still swirling around Saros.

During the fall, the speculation has cooled down a bit, but if Nashville is out of the playoffs as the transfer deadline approaches, the speculation can well be expected to intensify. Especially when there are question marks in the goalkeeping department of many top teams.

Saros will become an unrestricted free agent after next season. He is one of the best goaltenders in the league but eats only five million dollars from the salary cap. It’s no wonder that many clubs and their fans would take Saros’s drooling, splashing, Stanley Cup hunt.

“Yes, it is part of this business. Last season, many teammates left and there were many trades. There were all kinds of rumors again in the summer, so of course it always comes to mind. However, I try to think about it as little as possible,” says Saros about the rumours.

“During the early season, I haven’t thought about it. GM Barry Trotz has also been pretty direct and kept me on the map. Although of course he can’t always say everything. You have to accept that it is part of the matter.”

Saros says he hopes to stay with the Predators for a long time.

Trotz has also stated publicly that he would like to keep Saros in Nashville.

“In the summer, when there were rumors, he calmed down and said that he is not the first to trade. You can never say never, but it was nice that I was kept a little on the map.”

Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot, Mattias Ekholm and Mikael Granlund sold last spring before the transfer limit.

“It was sad when good friends left. And it was really special when at least in one game a player left the ice. I saw a little bit of another side of the business, as we have not been in such a situation before.”

“Then it was great how the rest of the season went. We played well and the action didn’t slow down.”

The superior key player of the team was Saros, who made 33 saves with a save percentage of 91.9 and a goals against average of 2.69. For example, according to Evolving-Hockey’s statistics, Saros “saved” a total of 45.49 goals, which means that the opponents “should” have scored about a lot more goals for Saros from their goal posts. Above, the statistics were only for the New York Islanders Ilya Sorokin.

“Playing felt really good for me as well. When the team in front tries their best, it is reflected in myself as well.”

“Of course, you always want to play well, but maybe it got to everyone when we had injuries and difficulties, but the faith didn’t waver. The good mood and atmosphere remained. You can go pretty far with it.”

Predators the direction was still unclear last spring.

Based on the acquisition policy of the summer, GM Trotz seems to be only trying to refile the team instead of a full rebuild, as the team acquired players such as Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist.

“Before the summer, there was no real sense of where we were going to take this. It was kind of nice that good players came in. However, it helps when we have a lot of young people. I took it as a positive sign.”

Predators is the new main pilot by Andrew Brunette started his season in coaching with a flurry. After ten matches, the balance is four wins. The team is currently on a long away tour.