Turris gives Predators more depth

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.”

The Predators now boast a 1-2 punch of Ryan Johansen and Turris, who came from the Senators in a pair of trades that included Colorado shipping Matt Duchene to Ottawa. Bonino, Colton Sissons and Calle Jarnkrok are all options, too, so Poile can halt his seemingly perpetual search for help at centre.

With Bonino still recovering from a foot injury he suffered in the Cup Final, there’s time to see how it all fits together. But Turris, whom the Predators signed to a $36 million, six-year extension that keeps him under contract through 2023-24, can be a matchup nightmare no matter where he plays in the lineup.

“I like being strong defensively and helping out in my own end, but I love playing offence and contributing offensively,” said Turris, who has 320 points in 544 NHL games. “I feel like that’s a big part of my game is trying to help create opportunities offensively for my linemates and myself.”