Samuel Girard could be the Predators’ next great defenseman

Samuel Girard’s first NHL goal happened so quickly Thursday night. The Predators won a faceoff in the offensive zone that went to defenseman P.K. Subban, who faked a shot before passing it across the ice to Girard, his fellow blueliner. The rookie was ready, waiting for the puck, and fired off a perfect one-timer. Then he raised his arms to celebrate:

It was merely the first goal in Nashville’s 4-1 win over Dallas, but that pass represented something bigger. The Predators have proved to be the league’s best franchise at finding and developing high-level defensemen over the past few years. Girard could be the next one.

The Predators selected Girard, an undersized blueliner at 5’10 and 161 pounds, with the No. 47 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. He spent three seasons in the QMJHL with the Shawinigan Cataractes, where his per-game point production steadily improved each season, from 0.67 to 1.10 to 1.27. By the time he left, he was one of the best offensive defensemen in juniors.

Before the season, ESPN rated him as the Predators’ second-best prospect, behind 2017 first-round pick and current KHL star Eeli Tolvanen, and the 36th-best prospect in all of hockey.

Girard, 19, still wasn’t expected to be one of the Predators’ key players this season given their impressive depth on defense. That’s been the defining trait of Nashville in recent years: It’ll roll out a blue line that nobody can match. Subban, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm comprise arguably the best top four in the league.

Except Ellis is on injured reserve after offseason knee injury, and Josi joined him on the sidelines recently due to a minor lower-body injury. The result was a big opening for Girard over the past two games, and he’s responded with a performance so good that it’ll be hard to remove him from the lineup.

In just two games with Nashville, Girard already has one goal and two assists. Primarily partnered with Ekholm, they’ve posted a 60.4 percent 5-on-5 Corsi in 28 minutes of action, according to Natural Stat Trick. Girard is at 57.1 percent 5-on-5 Corsi in his 36 minutes total against the Flyers and Stars.

A couple of contests isn’t nearly enough time to get a proper sense of how good Girard is, but it’s already apparent his potential is immense.

And in Nashville, where the team has developed Ellis, Josi, and Ekholm — plus Shea Weber, who was used to acquire Subban — it’s not hard to wonder whether this is merely the franchise’s latest, greatest success. (It really cannot be said enough how amazing Nashville’s track record is here. Ellis was a first-round pick in 2009, but Josi, Weber, and Girard were all second-round picks. Ekholm was a fourth-round pick. Whatever this organization is doing developmentally for blueliners, it’s working.)

And boy, the Predators defense could be stupid good by April assuming everyone can get healthy. Nashville could conceivably roll out a top six of Subban, Josi, Ellis, Ekholm, Girard, and some combination of Alexei Emelin, Yannick Weber, Matt Irwin, and Anthony Bitetto. If you thought this team’s defense looked good last year, just imagine it being able to roll three great pairings instead of just two.

Girard is still somewhat unproved, and there will surely be hurdles to jump over like with most young NHL players. But he’s a top defenseman prospect from the league’s best defenseman incubator off to a stellar start to his rookie season. By all indications, the Predators might have another hit on their hands.