1998–99 Nashville Predators season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1998–99
Year:	1998
Team:	Nashville Predators
Conferencerank:	12th
Divisionrank:	4th
Record:	28–47–7
Homerecord:	15–22–4
Roadrecord:	13–25–3
Goalsfor:	190
Goalsagainst:	261
Attendance:	16,194
Goalsleader:	Sergei Krivokrasov (25)
Assistsleader:	Cliff Ronning (35)
Pointsleader:	Cliff Ronning (53)
Pimleader:	Patrick Cote (242)
Plusminusleader:	Rob Valicevic (+4)
Winsleader:	Mike Dunham (16)
Gaaleader:	Tomas Vokoun (2.95)
Next Season:	1999–2000

The 1998–99 Nashville Predators season was the team's inaugural season. The team accumulated 28 wins and 47 losses, with seven games ending in ties for a total of 63 points, finishing in fourth place in the Central Division and 12th in the Western Conference. The team failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Off-season

In the expansion draft, the Predators chose five goaltenders, including Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun, who would become their starting goaltenders, and Mike Richter, who was a free agent and chose not to sign with the Predators. In the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, the Predators chose David Legwand, a center, as their first-ever draft pick, second overall.

Regular season

The Predators struggled on the power-play during the regular season, finishing 27th overall in the NHL in power-play goals scored (40). They also had the lowest penalty-kill percentage in the league, at 78.99%.^[1]

Season standings

Schedule and results

|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|1||L||October 10, 1998||0–1 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (1998–99) ||0–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2||W||October 13, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) ||1–1–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|3||L||October 17, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1998–99) ||1–2–0 || |- align="center" |4||T||October 19, 1998||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1998–99) ||1–2–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|5||L||October 21, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||1–3–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|6||L||October 23, 1998||3–4 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||1–4–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|7||L||October 24, 1998||4–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||1–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |8||W||October 27, 1998||5–4 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) ||2–5–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |9||W||October 31, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) ||3–5–1 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|10||L||November 4, 1998||2–3 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) ||3–6–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |11||W||November 6, 1998||2–1 || align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||4–6–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|12||L||November 7, 1998||3–5 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) ||4–7–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |13||W||November 10, 1998||4–2 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1998–99) ||5–7–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |14||W||November 12, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) ||6–7–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|15||L||November 14, 1998||1–5 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||6–8–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|16||L||November 17, 1998||1–2 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||6–9–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |17||W||November 19, 1998||3–2 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||7–9–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|18||L||November 21, 1998||3–6 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1998–99) ||7–10–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|19||L||November 24, 1998||0–4 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||7–11–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |20||W||November 25, 1998||4–3 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||8–11–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |21||W||November 27, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) ||9–11–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|22||L||November 29, 1998||1–5 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1998–99) ||9–12–1 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|23||L||December 1, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1998–99) ||9–13–1 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|24||L||December 5, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) ||9–14–1 || |- align="center" |25||T||December 8, 1998||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) ||9–14–2 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |26||W||December 10, 1998||2–1 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1998–99) ||10–14–2 || |- align="center" |27||T||December 12, 1998||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) ||10–14–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|28||L||December 16, 1998||1–6 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) ||10–15–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|29||L||December 17, 1998||1–3 || align="left"| @ San Jose Sharks (1998–99) ||10–16–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |30||W||December 19, 1998||6–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) ||11–16–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |31||W||December 23, 1998||5–3 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||12–16–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |32||W||December 26, 1998||3–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1998–99) ||13–16–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|33||L||December 28, 1998||0–1 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1998–99) ||13–17–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|34||L||December 30, 1998||2–5 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1998–99) ||13–18–3 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|35||L||January 1, 1999||5–6 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||13–19–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|36||L||January 2, 1999||1–4 || align="left"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) ||13–20–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |37||W||January 4, 1999||2–1 || align="left"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) ||14–20–3 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|38||L||January 7, 1999||3–4 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks (1998–99) ||14–21–3 || |- align="center" |39||T||January 9, 1999||3–3 OT|| align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||14–21–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|40||L||January 11, 1999||0–8 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) ||14–22–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|41||L||January 14, 1999||1–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||14–23–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |42||W||January 15, 1999||2–0 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) ||15–23–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|43||L||January 18, 1999||1–8 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1998–99) ||15–24–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |44||W||January 19, 1999||4–1 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks (1998–99) ||16–24–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|45||L||January 21, 1999||2–3 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) ||16–25–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|46||L||January 26, 1999||1–4 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||16–26–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |47||W||January 28, 1999||4–2 || align="left"| @ Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) ||17–26–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |48||W||January 30, 1999||3–2 OT|| align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1998–99) ||18–26–4 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|49||L||January 31, 1999||1–5 || align="left"| Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) ||18–27–4 || |-|- align="center" |50||T||February 4, 1999||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||18–27–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|51||L||February 5, 1999||2–4 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) ||18–28–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|52||L||February 9, 1999||2–5 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||18–29–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |53||W||February 12, 1999||2–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1998–99) ||19–29–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|54||L||February 13, 1999||2–3 OT|| align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) ||19–30–5 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|55||L||February 15, 1999||4–7 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1998–99) ||19–31–5 || |- align="center" |56||T||February 19, 1999||4–4 OT|| align="left"| Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) ||19–31–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |57||W||February 20, 1999||4–3 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||20–31–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|58||L||February 23, 1999||3–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1998–99) ||20–32–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |59||W||February 24, 1999||2–1 || align="left"| @ Dallas Stars (1998–99) ||21–32–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|60||L||February 27, 1999||1–3 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) ||21–33–6 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|61||L||March 2, 1999||1–5 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1998–99) ||21–34–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |62||W||March 4, 1999||4–3 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) ||22–34–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|63||L||March 5, 1999||2–3 || align="left"| @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) ||22–35–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|64||L||March 7, 1999||3–4 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) ||22–36–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|65||L||March 10, 1999||2–5 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||22–37–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |66||W||March 12, 1999||5–3 || align="left"| Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||23–37–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |67||W||March 14, 1999||3–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers (1998–99) ||24–37–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|68||L||March 16, 1999||2–4 || align="left"| Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||24–38–6 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|69||L||March 18, 1999||2–3 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1998–99) ||24–39–6 || |- align="center" |70||T||March 20, 1999||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1998–99) ||24–39–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |71||W||March 24, 1999||3–0 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1998–99) ||25–39–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|72||L||March 26, 1999||1–4 || align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1998–99) ||25–40–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|73||L||March 28, 1999||0–3 || align="left"| Dallas Stars (1998–99) ||25–41–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |74||W||March 30, 1999||3–2 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1998–99) ||26–41–7 || |-|- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|75||L||April 1, 1999||1–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1998–99) ||26–42–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |76||W||April 3, 1999||3–2 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) ||27–42–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|77||L||April 7, 1999||1–4 || align="left"| @ Colorado Avalanche (1998–99) ||27–43–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |78||W||April 9, 1999||4–3 || align="left"| @ Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) ||28–43–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|79||L||April 12, 1999||3–4 || align="left"| Los Angeles Kings (1998–99) ||28–44–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|80||L||April 14, 1999||2–4 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||28–45–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|81||L||April 15, 1999||2–4 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||28–46–7 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB"|82||L||April 17, 1999||1–4 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1998–99) ||28–47–7 || |-|-| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
= Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
= Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.

	Regular season
	Player
7		C	72	18	35	53	−6	40
22		C	68	16	34	50	−8	24
25		RW	70	25	23	48	−5	42
71		C	72	16	24	40	−14	26
24		RW	71	15	25	40	0	103
21		RW	80	13	19	32	−18	48
19		LW	77	11	20	31	−10	26
10		RW	71	11	20	31	−13	24
20		D	63	6	12	18	−24	44
43		LW	55	7	10	17	−10	10
15		D	74	2	15	17	−9	140
28		LW	76	5	11	16	−3	218
42		D	64	4	11	15	−10	60
23		RW	53	8	6	14	−10	16
27		D	46	2	12	14	−12	14
6		D	79	3	10	13	−6	137
44		D	50	4	8	12	−4	30
5		D	55	5	6	11	0	28
16		LW	14	5	5	10	1	2
9		C	40	4	5	9	−11	16
12		RW	19	4	2	6	4	2
18		C	30	0	6	6	−4	4
36		D	35	2	2	4	−4	38
32		LW	9	1	3	4	−1	2
7		C	9	2	1	3	−1	2
17		LW	70	1	2	3	−7	242
4		D	18	0	2	2	2	18
8		LW	2	0	1	1	0	14
40		D	2	0	1	1	0	0
29		G	37	0	1	1		6
7		D	6	0	0	0	−4	4
1		G	44	0	0	0		4
35		G	9	0	0	0		0
47		RW	2	0	0	0	−1	2
2		D	16	0	0	0	−3	12
11		C	1	0	0	0	0	0
30		G	3	0	0	0		0
12		RW	3	0	0	0	−1	6
50		C	2	0	0	0	−1	0
2		D	2	0	0	0	−2	2

Goaltending

	Regular season
	Player
1		44	16	23	3	1387	127	3.08	.908	1	2472
29		37	12	18	4	1041	96	2.95	.908	1	1954
35		9	0	6	0	229	24	3.22	.895	0	447
30		3	0	0	0	44	6	5.22	.864	0	69

Awards and records

Awards

Transactions

This section will cover signings from May 4, 1998, until the end of the 1998–99 season.

Free agent signings

Nashville signed the following free agents between June and September 1998: Jayson More (June 4), Tom Fitzgerald (July 6), David Gosselin (July 9), Jeff Staples (July 16), Brad Smyth (July 16), Jamie Heward (Aug. 6), Andrew Brunette (Sept. 2), Vitali Yachmenev (Sept. 2), Sebastien Bordeleau (Sept. 3) and Sergei Krivokrasov (Sept. 11).

All season trades

Date	Traded	Acquired	Acquired From
May 29	future considerations		Los Angeles Kings
June 26	future considerations		Los Angeles Kings
June 26	future considerations		St. Louis Blues
June 26	1998 5th round pick		San Jose Sharks
June 26	future considerations		Chicago Blackhawks
June 26	future considerations		Calgary Flames
June 26	future considerations		Montreal Canadiens
June 26	1998 7th round pick		Philadelphia Flyers
June 30	1999 7th round pick		Phoenix Coyotes
July 7	future considerations		Los Angeles Kings
July 9	future considerations		Dallas Stars
July 14		Petr Sykora, 1999 3rd round pick, and 1999 conditional pick	Detroit Red Wings
August 19	future considerations		Washington Capitals
Oct 1			Edmonton Oilers
Oct 5			Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Oct 25		1999 3rd round draft pick
Oct 31	future considerations		Phoenix Coyotes
Jan 13		future considerations	Phoenix Coyotes
Jan 26	future considerations		Philadelphia Flyers
Mar 23		2000 6th round pick	St. Louis Blues
Apr 13	1999 4th round pick
May 3		future considerations

Draft picks

Expansion draft

These results are numbered 1–26 for aesthetic purposes, but the players were not necessarily chosen in this order. As the Predators were the only team participating in the draft, the order is inconsequential.

	Player	Drafted from
1.	Frederic Chabot (G)	Los Angeles Kings
2.	Mike Dunham (G)	New Jersey Devils
3.	Mike Richter (G)	New York Rangers
4.	Mikhail Shtalenkov (G)	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
5.	Tomas Vokoun (G)	Montreal Canadiens
6.	Joel Bouchard (D)	Calgary Flames
7.	Bob Boughner (D)	Buffalo Sabres
8.	J. J. Daigneault (D)	New York Islanders
9.	Al Iafrate (D)	San Jose Sharks
10.	Uwe Krupp (D)	Colorado Avalanche
11.	John Slaney (D)	Phoenix Coyotes
12.	Rob Zettler (D)	Toronto Maple Leafs
13.	Chris Armstrong (D)	Florida Panthers
14.	Blair Atcheynum (RW)	St. Louis Blues
15.	Paul Brousseau (F)	Tampa Bay Lightning
16.	Doug Brown (RW)	Detroit Red Wings
17.	Andrew Brunette (LW)	Washington Capitals
18.	Patrick Cote (LW)	Dallas Stars
19.	Jeff Daniels (LW)	Carolina Hurricanes
20.	Craig Darby (C)	Philadelphia Flyers
21.	Doug Friedman (LW)	Edmonton Oilers
22.	Tony Hrkac (C)	Pittsburgh Penguins
23.	Greg Johnson (C)	Chicago Blackhawks
24.	Denny Lambert (LW)	Ottawa Senators
25.	Mike Sullivan (C)	Boston Bruins
26.	Scott Walker (RW)	Vancouver Canucks

Entry draft

Nashville's draft picks at the 1998 NHL Entry Draft held at the Marine Midland Arena in Buffalo, New York.^[3]

Round		Player	Position	College/Junior/Club team
1	2	David Legwand	Center	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
3	60	Denis Arkhipov	Center	Ak Bars Kazan (Russia)
3	85	Geoff Koch	Left Wing	University of Michigan (Big Ten)
4	88	Kent Sauer	Defense	North Iowa Huskies (USHL)
5	138	Martin Beauchesne	Defense	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)
6	147	Craig Brunel	Right Wing	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
8	202	Martin Bartek	Left Wing	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)
9	230	Karlis Skrastins	Defense	TPS (SM-liiga)

References

Web site: Nashville Predators 1998-99 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . June 19, 2023.
Web site: 1998-99 Nashville Predators Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts . Hockey-Reference.com . June 19, 2023.
Book: Dinger . Ralph . 2011 . The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012 . Dan Diamond & Associates . 978-1-894801-22-5 . Toronto.
Book: Podnieks, Andrew . The NHL All-Star Game: 50 years of the great tradition . 2000 . HarperCollins . Toronto . 0-00-200058-X.

Notes and References

Web site: 1998-99 NHL Summary.
Web site: NHL All-Star Game Historical Summaries - 1999 . NHL.com . June 27, 2023.
Web site: 1998 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com . www.hockeydb.com . June 28, 2023.