The defending Stanley Cup finalist Nashville Predators lost two of their best players this offseason: Mike Fisher and James Neal. The former recently announced his retirement, while the latter was scooped up by Vegas in June's expansion draft.

Fisher, the club's second-line center last year, finished fourth on the team in scoring and fifth among forwards in ice time.

Neal, who's produced at least 20 goals in all nine of his NHL seasons, finished fifth on the roster in scoring and third among forwards in ice time.

In total, the Preds lost a combined 41 goals and 42 assists, and a whole lot of leadership. However, the club is well-equipped to deal with those losses in 2017-18.

Center depth

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The Predators recently locked up No. 1 center Ryan Johansen with an eight-year extension, and signed unrestricted free agent Nick Bonino to be their No. 2 up the middle. So, Fisher would only have been Nashville's No. 3 center in 2017-18, and they have plenty of other candidates to fill that void.

Specifically, Calle Jarnkrok, Colton Sissons, and Frederick Gaudreau are all more than capable of centering the bottom two lines.

Jarnkrok, 25, had 15 goals and 30 points last season while winning nearly 50 percent of his faceoffs in both the regular season and playoffs - a skill that usually progresses with age.

Sissons, 23, had six goals and 12 points in 22 postseason games last year, hovering around 50 percent on draws in the regular season and playoffs as well.

Gaudreau, 24, is the least experienced of the trio after playing in just nine regular-season games. However, he made an impact during his eight playoff contests, scoring three goals, including two game-winners.

Bounce-back and breakout candidates on the wing

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With Neal out of the picture, Craig Smith will most likely fill in as the second-line right winger - a role he excelled in before the emergence of Viktor Arvidsson. Smith had three straight 20-goal campaigns before he was demoted to a third-line role last season and scored just 12 times. That was also due to his shooting percentage, which plummeted to just 7.7 percent last year after he shot 10.2 percent across the three years prior.

The second bounce-back candidate is 35-year-old Scott Hartnell, who saw his role diminished last year in Columbus. He still managed to score 13 goals while playing on the fourth line, but could get that number closer to 20 with a permanent third-line job.

As for breakout candidates, there's none more obvious than 21-year-old Kevin Fiala. He had 11 goals in 54 regular-season games last year and added two more in five playoff games before fracturing his femur. The former 11th overall pick is expected to be ready for training camp.

The far less obvious candidate is another former first-round pick, Austin Watson. The 25-year-old hasn't shown much offensive ability thus far in his NHL career, compiling just 28 points in 140 games, but he did tally nine points in 22 playoff games. As a three-time 20-goal scorer in the AHL, the physical 6-foot-4 forward could very well pot 10-to-15 goals this season.

While not all of these forecasts will necessarily come to fruition, these players should be able to make up for the 23 goals lost by Neal.

Cap room

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It may be a blessing in disguise, but losing Fisher and Neal provided Predators general manager David Poile with some nice cap flexibility, as the pair had a combined cap hit of $9.4 million last year. Losing the duo allowed Poile to lock up Johansen and Arvidsson long term, sign Bonino to a four-year deal, and add Alexei Emelin for depth on the back end.

Poile still has nearly $5.5 million in cap space to work with, and could conceivably sign one of the many veteran wingers remaining on the free-agent market, such as Jaromir Jagr, Thomas Vanek, Brian Gionta, Shane Doan, or Jarome Iginla. Jagr or Vanek, who are both still capable of playing a top-six role, would make Nashville's forward group very deep:

With Fisher announcing his retirement, don't be surprised if Poile still has a trick or two up his sleeve before the season begins, especially considering Nashville's championship window is wide open.

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