O’Reilly One Of Three Predators To Get Some Love In NHLPA Player Poll

Three Nashville Predators players got a shoutout from their peers in the latest NHLPA poll, which surveyed 639 players on 15 hockey-related topics.

In the “If you need to win a faceoff, who would you pick?” category, Ryan O’Reilly was the top vote getter (14.49% of votes), edging out Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (13.59%).

O’Reilly leads the Predators with a faceoff win percentage of 54.1%. Among qualifying centers, he ranks 37th in the NHL in the same category.

Goaltender Juuse Saros was among the top-five vote getters in the “If you need to win one game, who is the goalie you want on your team?” category, finishing with 4.87% of the votes, behind Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (46.92%), New York’s (Rangers) Igor Shesterkin (6.49%), New York’s (Islanders) Ilya Sorokin (6.17%) and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck (5.03%).

Among qualifying goalies, Saros ranks second in minutes played (3,512:07), fourth in wins (34), fifth in shutouts (3) and eighth in save percentage (.907) and goals-against average (2.82).

Norris Trophy contender Roman Josi finished third in the “If you need to win one game, who is the defenseman you want on your team?” category, earning 4.52% of votes. Colorado’s Cale Makar (56.38%) finished first, Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman (10.5%) was second, Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes (4.04%) was fourth and New York’s (Rangers) Adam Fox was fifth (2.42%).

Josi leads all NHL defensemen in goals (21) and power-play goals (8), and he ranks second in game-winning goals (5), third in points (80) and sixth in power-play points (30).

Other notable winners include:

• Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (best stick-handler, top forward you want on your team)
• Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (most complete player)
• Boston’s Brad Marchand (player least enjoy playing against but would like on your team)
• Colorado’s Cale Makar (best breakout passer)
• Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (best playmaker)
• Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman (most difficult to ace in their own end)
• Boston’s David Pastrnak (best style)
• Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena (toughest venue to play in as a visiting team)
• Montreal’s Belle Center (best ice)

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