One by one during the past 12 months, the Predators took care of any concerns that prevented them being considered Stanley Cup contenders.

GM David Poile added a No. 1 center in Ryan Johansen to compete with the West’s elite down the middle.

If there was any concern that Shea Weber was slowing down, which was suggested by some following the Predators' series loss to the San Jose Sharks in the playoffs, those went out the window after the P.K. Subban trade.

Really, in what is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing seasons in their franchise history, the biggest question surrounding the Predators was in goal, which is crazy. That used to be the only thing that wasn’t a concern.

Not all that long ago, goalie Pekka Rinne was the biggest reason you felt good about the Predators, not the concern. He once nearly single-handedly beat the Detroit Red Wings in a playoff series. When he’s at his best, it looks like a puck will never get by him.

He just wasn’t consistently at his best last season, something he’s the first to admit. After finishing second in Vezina trophy voting in 2014-15, he had a .908 save percentage last season, followed by a .906 in the playoffs.

So there were definitely doubters about where his career was headed at age 33. When compiling ratings for our annual Goalie Tiers project, one GM said simply: “He hasn’t been good. That’s just the facts.”

If there’s doubt surrounding Rinne, it isn’t coming from the inside, according to Predators coach Peter Laviolette.

“There might have been outside noise but it wasn’t internal noise,” he said. “You go to any of the best players in the world, there’s always a little bit of up and down. Pekka has been a consistent player for us and he’s off to a great start again. Great guy. Great in the locker room. Great teammate. ... Consistently through the course of time, he’s stood up as one of the best goaltenders in the league.”

And those external doubts never filtered their way to Rinne himself. He actually seemed surprised when it was suggested to him by a completely inconsiderate media member that he was entering this season with more questions than in the past.

“You’re the first one to say it,” he said when we chatted.

Oh man, sorry.

“That’s alright. To be honest, I haven’t read any of that stuff. Being in the league for a long time, you’re going to go through things where you have to prove yourself all over again, year after year,” Rinne said. “That comes with the position. That comes with the status. That’s what I enjoy about trying to be on top, the hardest thing is to stay there.”

In early action, he’s back to that spot on top. When not sidelined by food poisoning, he’s been fantastic for the Predators, with a .922 save percentage in three games. That’s a good early sign.

But the Predators are also being very realistic in their projections of Rinne moving forward. Internally, they’re lining up a succession plan because that’s what you do in all situations.

They may not need it soon, but they don’t want to be blindsided by anything either.

“You have this discussion about every single position and every single player and we’ll continue to do it,” said Predators assistant GM Paul Fenton. “We’ll have discussions when a guy is getting older. ... We’ve talked about all of them because you have to.”

Since the 2014-15 season, only two goalies in the top 10 in save percentage (with a minimum of 75 games played) are older than Rinne: Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist.

As goalies age, those are usually the ones people remember -- the guys who successfully kept it going. Luongo is doing it, so everyone can do it!

People forget the guys who age like mortals and lose effectiveness. Ilya Bryzgalov had a .921 save percentage at age 30. He was out of the league at 34. Jonas Hiller's lack of success might have been injury-related, but the 30s weren’t kind to him either. Since turning 28, Cam Ward has a .906 save percentage in 152 games.

If the league leaders are any indication, you want your goalie in that 26- to 29-year-old age range. After that, it’s only fair to anticipate some decline in play.

While Rinne is striving to remain on top of the league, the Predators have put themselves in a good place if he doesn’t.

On Saturday, the NHL got a small taste of the future in goal for the Predators.

Juuse Saros, 21, came up as an emergency starter while Rinne recovered from food poisoning, and all he did was stop 34 of 35 shots to beat the reigning Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Predators love Saros. Rinne loves Saros.

“He’s going to be great,” Rinne said. “He has all the tools. People always question his size, but he never thinks like that. He has a great work ethic but the biggest thing is his talent and the skill set he possesses. ... He’s going to have a really bright future.”

Acquired with the fourth-round draft pick that was part of the Paul Gaustad trade that cost GM David Poile a first-round pick, Saros may end up being the piece to that controversial trade that pays the most dividends.

Fenton was quick to credit amateur scouts Jeff Kealty, Tom Nolan, Lucas Bergman and Janne Kekalainen for another late-round find for the Predators.

What they saw in Saros was what has led to his early success as a pro -- a high-end hockey sense. He doesn’t have the prototypical goalie size teams covet right now since he’s only 5-foot-11. But Fenton raved about his ability to anticipate plays.

“From the beginning, their assessment of him was that he is leaps and bounds above mentally what you would consider intelligent for a hockey player,” Fenton said. “Because of that, they didn’t look at size mattering. They have said that since day one.”

Size has become less of an issue at every other position on the ice, but teams have seemed less willing to give it up in goal. The Predators may be capitalizing on a willingness to take a chance here.

“I think anticipation and reads are the biggest thing for any goaltender,” Fenton said. “The big guys who just flop and fall and pucks hit them, at some point it’s going to catch up to them.”

So far, Saros has justified the Predators' faith. He had a .920 save percentage last season in 38 games with Milwaukee. ESPN Insider prospect guru Corey Pronman has Saros ranked as the No. 3 goalie prospect in hockey. The two guys in front of him are Andrei Vasilevskiy and Matt Murray.

“He has a chance to be special,” Fenton said.

And that optimism isn’t just reserved for those inside the Predators organization.

“Sees game in slow motion,” texted one goalie coach on Monday of Saros. “Great goalie skill. Just small in stature. That could be limiting when [there is] traffic.”

So far this season, Rinne has looked like the Rinne of old. But if he starts to show any signs of aging as the 30s kick in, the Predators appear to have a good one waiting in the wings.

“We all need several goalies,” Fenton said. “I don’t even want to stop at two.”