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This is very cool stuff. I've been a Nashville Predators fan since the early expansion days so I'm curious how the franchise performed in a universe where the 2007 fire sale never happened. I'm also specifically interested in the careers of some of the players I remember from the early days like David Legwand, Scott Hartnell, Tomas Vokoun, Scott Walker, Martin Erat, and Kimmo Timonen.
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Thanks. Glad you enjoy it as it is a lot of fun for me looking at different teams and players.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
The Preds joined the NHL in 1998-99 and made the playoffs with a 30-40-12 record that first season. A five year playoff drought followed but patience was rewarded as the Predators won a Stanley Cup in 2007 - less than a decade after joining the league. They made the playoffs every season from 2005 to 2013 but that was followed by a long drought and the '07 Cup remains the only one in franchise history.
The first playoff round win in franchise history came in 2005, when they beat Anahiem in 7 games and then blanked Detroit 4 straight behind sound goaltending from Craig Billington before falling to Cup champion Colorado in the Western Conference Finals. The following season they were upset by Vancouver in the opening round but in 2007 the Predators went all the way after finishing the regular season as the number 5 seed in the West. The Preds lost just twice in 18 games as they breezed through the post-season beating St Louis, San Jose, Detroit and Toronto to win the Cup. Although they would make the playoffs each of the next six seasons, Nashville would win just one series in that time.
2013-14 was the beginning of a decade long drought when Nashville missed the playoffs 11 straight season. In 2026 the Predators were led by fictional player Nate Van Dousen, who led the league with 100 points that season. Van Dousen, who is Nashville's all-time point leader with 862 and is a 2-time Hart Trophy winner, carried the team to the conference finals but they lost in 7 games to Edmonton. Their only other deep playoff run came this past season (2035-36) when they reached the finals only to fall to Toronto - the team they defeated for the '07 Cup, in 6 games.
The '07 Cup club was led offensively by Jason Pominville (33-49-82), Scott Upshall (33-34-67) and Shea Weber (17-41-58). The key to Nashville's success was it's team defense and goaltender Pekka Rinne, who went 41-24-1 with a 2.34 GAA in the regular season and followed that up with an incredible playoff run that saw him win 16 of 18 games with a 1.57 GAA and a .934 save percentage. It was Shea Weber and not Rinne who won the Conn Smythe Trophy that year. Weber had 17 points and a +15 rating in the 18 playoff contests. Weber also won a pair of Norris Trophy's in his career and is the all-time leader in assists by a Pred with 543 while trailing only fictional player Van Dousen in points.
DAVID LEGWAND
Ranked third all-time on the Preds in goals (263) and points (767), Legwand played his entire career in Nashville starting as an 18 year old rookie in the franchise's first season. He had 12 goals and 23 points that season and evolved into a consistent 50 point a year player. He missed much of the regular season in the Cup year but did play in 17 playoff games, scoring twice and adding 8 assists.
In 1273 games Legwand's numbers were 263-504-767. He ended his career in 2015-16 with a brief demotion to Milwaukee to end the season. Those 10 games in Milwaukee were the only minor league games he ever played.
SCOTT HARTNELL
Only fictional player Nate Van Dousen scored more goals as a Pred than Hartnell's 362. He spent his entire 15 year NHL career in Nashville, appearing in 1090 games while earning 754 points. He had a mean streaka in the game and recorded 2307 career pim's, including 348 minutes in 2013-14.
He played in 81 playoff games and had 54 points, including 13 points in the Cup run of '07.
TOMAS VOKOUN
Vokoun took a while to make the NHL but made the most of his stay. He spent nearly a decade in the Habs minor league system before getting a shot with Montreal as a 29 year old in 2005-06. He spent just 4 years in Montreal and only 2 as a starter but had a long playoff run in each of them. Vokoun would lead the Habs to a conference final and also a Cup win, which came in 2008 and he was named the Conn Smythe winner that year. In all, he played in just 173 NHL games, going 119-36-13 with a 1.95 career GAA. He was 33-18-2 in the playoffs with a 2.27 GAA and .907 save percentage.
Vokoun was dealt to Ottawa late in his career in a trade that saw Nick Foligno go the other way but he never played for the Senators as he spent his final year with Binghamton of the AHL.
SCOTT WALKER
The Preds all-time penalty minute leader with 2377 played 882 games in a Nashville uniform. He scored 161 goals and 378 points in 11 and a half years with Nashville.
Walker began his pro career in the Kings system, playing in the minors for his first two season but did get called up for 2 games with LA as a 22 year old. The following season he got into 5 games with the Kings, scored his first goal and earned 16 pim's.
LA dealt him to Montreal in exchange for goaltender Martin Brochu at the trade deadline in 1998 and he would play 1 game for the Canadiens that season, earning an assist and a 5 minute major. He started the 98-99 season in Fredericton but was dealt to the Rangers that December, which finally gave him a chance to be an everyday player in the NHL. The Rangers dressed him for 42 games and he had 9 points and 91 penalty minutes.
A free agent that off-season he signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, returning to the city his pro career began while with Los Angeles' farm club - the Phoenix Roadrunners. In 99-00, Walker played 61 games and scored 10 goals and 19 points with the Coyotes but that March he was traded to the Predators along with defenseman Corey Foster in exchange for defensemen Jayson More and Alexander Boikov.
Walker would finish his career in Nashville and play a role in the '07 Cup win. He had 6 points that playoff year and in all played 68 postseason games in his career, scoring 8 times and adding 14 assists to go with 198 pim's. His career regular season numbers including the games with LA, the Rangers, Coyotes and Montreal along with Nashville saw Walker play 993 games, scoring 176 goals and 409 points with 2582 penalty minutes.
MARTIN ERAT
Erat is another of the players who spent his entire NHL career in Nashville. He played in 1059 games, scoring 177 times with 535 points, good for 7th on the team career points list behind Van Dousen (862), Weber (793), Legwand (767), Hartnell (754), Jeffrey Bailey -fictional (567) and Ryan Suter (546).
He played in 86 post-season games and had 13 points in the Cup run of 2007. He scored a career high 22 goals as a 28 year old in 09-10 and his best point total was in 2004-05 when he went 15-37-52.
KIMMO TIMONEN
Timonen was never a Predator in this universe. He began in the Kings system as an 18 year old and would play his entire NHL career in LA except for his final season with Carolina. Timonen played 997 NHL games, scoring 140 goals and 542 points.
He did not make the NHL for good until 98-99 as a 23 year old but would be a fixture on the LA blueline until a trade to Carolina just prior to the 2010-11 season. Timonen, who was 35 at the time and just coming off a Bill Masterton Trophy win in 2010, was dispatched to the Hurricanes for Harold Druken and Brian Dumoulin. He would end his career with 20 points in 64 games with Carolina.
There was not much playoff success for Timonen as his Kings won just 1 series in his time there and he played in 58 postseason games, recording just 17 points including 1 assist in 5 games with Carolina in his final year.
Timonen was a second team all-star once in his career, 2000-01 when he had 56 points as a 26 year old. He followed that up with back to back 57 point campaigns, which was his career high.
CRAIG BILLINGTON
You didn't ask about him but he deserves mention for his long NHL career including 9 seasons in Nashville that ended with a Stanley Cup in 2007. Billington played a decade in New Jersey but was deemed expendable for the expansion draft in 1998 because the Devils had Martin Brodeur and Mike Dunham. Nashville took Billington with their first pick and he was their number one goalie until Rinne took over in 05-06.
Billington is third all-time in wins and shutouts by a Predator and has a career record of 290-368-109 between New Jersey and Nashville with 64 shutouts. He helped carry Nashville to the conference finals in 04-05, going 9-6 with a 2.16 GAA that playoff. In all he played 36 postseason games and was 13-18 with a 3.22 GAA. He did not play in the '07 playoffs but was the backup for every game behind Rinne as a 40 year old. He retired immediately after the Cup win.