Young defense continues to improve

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Using the newly debuted projection system of Puck Prospectus, VUKOTA, Insider takes the temperature of players on every NHL team, concluding the Central Division on Saturday with the Nashville Predators.

Summer Skate -- Nashville Predators

The Predators, a team that was good on the defensive side of the puck last year with a plus-4.7 defensive GVT, are littered with blue-line talent. Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are in the NHL, and Puck Prospectus favorite Ryan Ellis is on the way to Nashville very soon. Time will tell if the team's offensive game will come together for a postseason berth in 2009-10, but time is not on the side of one veteran forward.

To see which player could soar, which could sink and which could be a potential impact prospect, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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E.J. Hradek

Senior Writer, ESPN The Magazine

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E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989.