Arvidsson's shoot-first mentality meshes with Predators

For as long as Peter Laviolette has been an NHL coach, he has learned that players inherently crave offense. They want to attack, they want to shoot, they want to score.

Viktor Arvidsson is the epitome of that. The 22-year-old Swede led the American Hockey League with 272 shots on goal, the most by a Milwaukee Admirals player since at least the 2005-06 season. He converted on 8.1 percent of those shots, scoring 22 goals and pacing the Admirals with 55 points in his first professional season.

Arvidsson, drafted in the fourth round by Nashville in 2014, was the only player in that year's draft class selected outside of the first round to make his NHL debut last season. Days from the Predators' regular-season opener against the Hurricanes, Arvidsson is among the 23 players left at training camp, all but assuring his place on Nashville's opening-night roster.

"I think there's got to be a mindset, first of all," Laviolette said. "To shoot the puck, some guys put it on the net more than others do. I think some guys have a shot-first mentality instead of a pass-first mentality. Certainly I think his speed and his explosiveness put him into areas where he's able to find open space and get a shot off."

There wasn't much to the lofty shot totals, Arvidsson admitted Friday. It was an attitude that he learned to cultivate from an early age.

"I always shot the puck a lot," Arvidsson said. "When I was in Sweden, too, I tried to shoot a lot and create scoring chances and stuff like that. Like my coach back home in Sweden told me to shoot a lot of pucks, and that's where it comes from. I just try to in practice hit the net every time when I shoot and create second opportunities if I can. Every time I enter the zone, I look to get the puck to the net."

His new teammates have taken notice.

"He's played great," forward and countryman Filip Forsberg said recently. "Obviously, he's a smaller guy that works really hard with great skating and a great shot, and he brings a new level to the team coming in with the attitude that he has. He can shoot the puck and score goals. That's what he did in Milwaukee last year, proving that he can play in North America, so it's going to be interesting to see what he can bring to the table."

At practice Friday, Arvidsson served as the Predators' second-line right wing beside center Mike Fisher and left wing Craig Smith. It was a subtle nod to the impressive preseason that Arvidsson has had and his potential as his rookie NHL season approaches.

"Any line that he's been on has been a good line," Laviolette said earlier this week. "He's used his speed and his quickness and his ability to generate offense. He's done a good job so far in camp, so right now, Viktor stays."

Reach Adam Vingan at avingan@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamVingan.

PREDATORS TRAINING CAMP

Final preseason game: 6 p.m. Saturday at Columbus

First regular-season game: 7 p.m. Thursday vs. Carolina