Predators' Filip Forsberg is quietly the hottest player on the NHL's hottest team

The repeat 30-goal scorer is off to the races in 2017-18, and the Predators are scarier than ever

The New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets might all beg to differ, but there aren't many NHL teams hotter than the defending Western Conference champion Nashville Predators as hockey rolls into December.

Yes, the Preds are fresh off a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks. Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning still reign supreme in the league-wide picture thanks to an enviable goal differential and first-place standing. And yes, the Islanders and Montreal Canadiens have streaks on their side, both clubs working toward five straight victories on the ice.

But Nashville is lurking -- and emerging -- in the Central, and it won't be long before the Predators are threatening to leapfrog the Jets and snag the division throne, at least temporarily, from the St. Louis Blues. Their loss to the Canucks was just the second defeat they've suffered in their past 10 games, and there's a growing list of reasons to believe they're even more lethal than when they peaked as 2016-17 Stanley Cup Final challengers -- from Kyle Turris' timely arrival to Pekka Rinne's sustained star power in net.

There's no bigger reason, however, that Nashville is one of the NHL's top clubs entering December than the early-season production of a familiar scoring threat: the one and only Filip Forsberg.

Aside from a Game 4 goal, the veteran winger was relatively quiet in Nashville's Cup Final bout with the repeat champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Before that, he might have been the team's most regular catalyst in the wake of Ryan Johansen's injury, logging a second straight 30-goal campaign for the Preds. This season? He has been even better.

Lost amid Nashville surrendering five goals to Vancouver this week was the fact that Forsberg, 23, became the only NHL player to have scored in each of his team's home games to date. With his 13th goal of the young season, he also extended his streak of consecutive games with a point to 12, the longest run by any player since Patrick Kane went 16 straight in 2015-16 for the Blackhawks. In the 12-game streak, Forsberg has racked up 10 goals and 18 points, putting himself on pace for a career-high 43 goals on the season.

At a time when historic hat-trick explosions and record outpourings of goals have everyone from mainstays like Alex Ovechkin to newcomers like Brock Boeser on track for gaudy scoring totals, Forsberg's marks don't jump off the charts. But on a Predators team that is absolutely stacked with talent, including a healthy Johansen and the recently acquired Turris, his surge has been no small feat. Consider, too, that he's actually averaged less time on the ice to start the 2017-18 campaign, and it's easy to see that Forsberg is on pace for a career finish. 

In fact, if it's any indication of what's to come down the stretch, when Forsberg has typically excelled on the edge in Nashville, the Predators might not have to worry too much about a return trip to the Final after all.