Kyle Turris
For the better part of their two decades in the NHL, the Nashville Predators never had a No. 1 center. The linchpins of a hockey offense, top-line centers rarely get traded or even become available in free agency. In 2016, David Poile finally filled the long-lasting hole at the middle of his team, sending wunderkind defenseman Seth Jones to Columbus in return for Ryan Johansen.
That move was a game-changer for the franchise. But in solving one problem, the trade exposed another.
For the better part of their two decades in the NHL, the Predators never had a No. 2 center, either. In fact, the team often rolled out with four third-line pivots. In fairness, that made matchups difficult for opposing teams, but it didn’t exactly produce voluminous ink on the scoresheet.
Like Johnny Depp moving to a massive Williamson County estate or Jesse James living in every house in the city built before 1900, another Nashville rumor would never go away: the rumor that the Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene was coming to Nashville to center the second line. The country-music loving, cowboy-hat-wearing Duchene did little to dispel the talk; his Instagram photos were examined with the same intensity Paul Is Dead truthers investigate Abbey Road’s cover. In one particularly on-the-nose snap, Duchene wore a shirt featuring Tennessee’s tri-star and the word “Home.”
In the end, David Poile got his man, and Duchene was involved — but unless three stars are a secret symbol of Ottawa, Duchene’s shirt wasn’t prescient. In a three-way deal with the Avs and Ottawa Senators, Poile sent ballyhooed young blueliner Samuel Girard, Russian center Vladimir Kamenev and a draft pick to Colorado and received veteran center Kyle Turris from the Sens, who acquired Duchene in a November 2017 blockbuster.
Statistically, Turris is virtually identical to Duchene, albeit two years older, and Poile was able to firm up his second line without giving up a top-four defenseman — reportedly the price in a straight one-for-one deal with the Avs. Even more importantly for an organization whose mantra these days is stability, Turris immediately signed a six-year, $36 million contract with his new team.
And in the history of the Predators, that’s important.
In the days of a half-empty arena and a yearly tooth-and-nail battle to get into the playoffs, Poile often struggled to ink top free agents at all, let alone get them to sign lengthy deals. Even players already in the fold would require inducements to remain — a few extra dollars, promises of captaincy, no-trade clauses and the like. Suddenly, here’s Turris, the player who would finally get the team’s ever-improving forwards all sitting in the right place on the bus, so to speak, signing a lengthy deal before he even arrived in town.
And when he did arrive, his impact was instantaneous. He scored goals in his first two games — against the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins, and then against the would-be champs Washington Capitals.
Coach Peter Laviolette slotted Turris between shifty wingers Craig Smith and Kevin Fiala, and the trio’s chemistry was apparent from the moment Turris took the ice in his first practice.
Johansen’s line with Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson had already earned praise as one of the top lines in the league. Gifted and speedy, all with a heavy dose of intensity — particularly from Arvidsson — and power and strength from Johansen and Forsberg, the JoFA Line rightly earns the attention of opposing defenses.
Until Laviolette had Turris, however, it was relatively easy to focus defensively on the JoFAs.
But the STF Line (as with many in-jokes among Predators fans, this one is a reference to pro wrestling, as it’s an abbreviation for the stepover toehold facelock, a submission maneuver used by John Cena, among others) isn’t just a distraction or a trio of second bananas or relief valves for the top line. They became a force in their own right.
Turris slowed down from his hot start, notably during the playoffs. But Smith and Fiala were sparked by the addition, registering career highs in goals and points — a salve for the lingering sting of losing James Neal to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft.
What’s more, Turris contributes off ice. In Ottawa, he and his wife Julie gave not just their money but also a significant amount of time and hands-on attention to the Capital City Condors, a hockey team for people with special needs — Turris famously rushed to the Condors’ season-ending banquet after scoring an overtime winner in a playoff series against the New York Rangers. While maintaining ties with the team, Turris has taken on charitable roles in Nashville too, notably with the NHL’s Hockey Is for Everyone initiative, which aims to spread the game outside its traditional demographic and provides support for sled hockey and women’s and girl’s teams.
In hockey and throughout his life, Turris has been big on honoring his commitments. After nearly reaching the Stanley Cup Final with Ottawa in 2017 (the Sens’ fortunes since the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Final have declined precipitously, to say the least), he committed to the cause in his new city with a team he sensed was on the cusp of greatness.
It’s hasn’t been long since such a statement about Nashville would have seemed absurd, but Turris showed that the new normal is extraordinary. He and his linemates will be a critical part of the push for the Cup in Smashville. Fiala’s entry-level deal expires at the end of this season, and Smith is eligible for free agency after the 2019-20 campaign. No doubt Poile will want their commitment. Just like on the ice, they can look to their centerman for inspiration.
