Turris gives Predators centre depth to match anyone in NHL
As impressive as it was that the Nashville Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final last spring without their top two centres, it was still a glaring need.
Losing to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins last June showed the Predators the shallowest part of their lineup.
Not anymore. After signing former Penguins centre Nick Bonino in the off-season and acquiring Kyle Turris on Sunday night, Nashville now has depth down the middle to hang with anyone in the NHL, including the Penguins.
“With the acquisition of Kyle Turris, we are now as skilled and as deep at the centre position as we ever have been,” general manager David Poile said Monday in Nashville. “In terms of playing the game and matchups, using Pittsburgh as an example, the Malkin-Crosby duo, now we’ve got way more flexibility and can create some new strategies on how we can play against them if we are healthy and have all of these centre ice men to play against them.”