Ryan Johansen is expected to center the first line in his Predators debut against the Avalanche on Friday night

Johansen is expected to center the first line in his Predators debut against the Avalanche on Friday night, Adam Vingan of The Tennessean reports.

Analysis:

Following a trade that brought him to Nashville from Columbus earlier this week, Johansen will look to rejuvenate his season with the Preds after falling out of favour with the Blue Jackets' head coach, John Tortorella. Now under coach Peter Laviolette, he'll be given every chance to re-establish himself as the player who broke out last season with 71 points in 82 games. Given a surrounding cast that includes the likes of Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, James Neal and Mike Ribeiro, we'd say there's a very good chance of that happening. Feel free to put him in your fantasy lineups right away, as the upside potential here is significant.