Morning Skate: P.K. Subban is on pace for a career year, and the Predators are benefiting

Nashville’s brightest star is shining in more ways than one.

Feb 9, 2018, 2:00 PM UTC

Things are certainly coming up for P.K. Subban this year. Subban is considered by many to be the face of the NHL in terms of personality, and his on-ice skill is no joke either.

Thanks to a two-goal performance against Ottawa on Thursday night, the Nashville Predators defenseman now has 25 points in his last 24 games. On the season, Subban has 43 points in 53 games, as he’s also tied his career-high 15 goals with 29 games to play. Subban not only leads all Predators defensemen with those point totals, but he’s also leading the entire team in points as we roll on through February.

Morning Skate

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Subban’s presence among the Predators top four usually comes with the caveat that the defenseman is a better point producer than defender. However, Subban is holding himself well defensively, as his 51 even-strength CF% hovers close to Roman Josi and Mattias Ekholm. Subban also leads the Predators’ defensemen in defensive zone starts, with a 59.2 percentage of his zone starts coming in his own zone.

That trust seems to have allowed Subban’s offensive game to thrive. It also helps that the Predators have played well on the whole this season, as they are the Central Division’s top team with 73 points and a 32-12-9 record.

Subban’s offensive success, however, has certainly been quite the asset for the Predators, who look to get back to the Stanley Cup Final after falling short last season. If Subban continues this pace, they’ll be in a pretty good position to succeed.