Nashville Predators team preview: Can they recover from disappointment?

No team had a more disappointing finish last season than the Nashville Predators, who spent more money than anyone trying to upgrade their roster the previous summer, then fell flat and well, well out of the playoffs by the time they struggled through 82 games.

Can they recover from that, or is GM Barry Trotz stuck with an ageing core and younger up-and-comers who aren’t quite ready for the spotlight yet?

The Predators had troubles at both ends of the rink last season and at all positions. Bad luck at the draft lottery even moved them back two spots at the draft, though they’re happy with the player they selected fifth overall and signed Brady Martin to his entry-level contract already.

• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

But, until they prove otherwise, this seems like a team that might be caught between generations.

Can they come together to find the right mix, or is an ugly forced rebuild upon the Predators?

We continue our look at each of the NHL’s 32 teams over 32 days with the Nashville Predators.

Newcomer to watch: Nic Hague

Traded from Vegas to Nashville this summer and quickly signing a four-year extension with a $5.5 million AAV, Hague should be more than a bottom-pair defenceman now, which may require him to play on the right side. The left-shooting Hague said he was comfortable either way, but can he be effective higher in the lineup? In Vegas, Hague was limited behind a deep defence group, averaging 17 minutes per game last season with some penalty-kill assignments. With the money he’s making, the hope is Hague can claim a spot in the top four, and even perhaps bring more offence to the table than he has so far in his NHL career. He scored a little more often as a junior player, but has a career high of 17 points in the NHL. Nashville will give him an opportunity to level up at age 26, heading into his prime years.

Under-the-radar player to watch: Fedor Svechkov

Nashville does not have great strength down the middle quite yet. Might their first-round pick from the 2025 draft win a spot? Perhaps. Will 34-year-old Erik Haula start as the second line centre? That’s a big ask for a player who averaged less than 15 minutes per game last season with New Jersey and scored only 21 points. Michael McCarron took the second-most faceoffs on Nashville last year, but is probably better in the bottom six. Steven Stamkos may come into play, but is probably better as a winger at this stage. Svechkov is the player to watch here. The 22-year-old will have a shot to earn the second-line centre role with a strong training camp, or through the season if he doesn’t immediately start there. The Predators need some of their younger players to step forward and Svechkov is a vital one to do so at centre. He scored 17 points in 52 games as a rookie.

Top prospect: Brady Martin

Taken fifth overall at the most recent NHL Draft, Martin is a handful to say the least. He hits hard, forechecks ferociously, scores a healthy amount of goals and points, and plays centre, always a valued position. He showed well at the prospect tournament Nashville participated in and will go into training camp battling for a roster spot on the NHL team. Martin has signed his entry-level contract, which means he’s ineligible to play in the NCAA now, so it’s either the NHL or back to the CHL for the 18-year-old. At the end of last season, Predators GM Barry Trotz said he wanted to make sure there were opportunities for younger players in the system to earn their way into the NHL. There are others who are perhaps further ahead of Martin in their timeline (such as Joakim Kemell), but a strong camp from Martin might get him at least a nine-game showcase.

1. Can anything be salvaged after such a failure in 2024-25?

The Predators won the 2024 off-season, had high hopes for Marchessault and Stamkos, and made a commitment to winning in the nearer term when they decided to re-sign Juuse Saros and trade away Yaroslav Askarov. The result in Year 1 was to miss the playoffs by 28 points and finish with the third-worst record in the NHL. Head coach Andrew Brunette was retained as the team endeavours to push forward and chalk up 2024-25 as a result of a ton of change all at once. They need to be a better defensive unit, finishing with the sixth-highest GAA in the league, but their offence was the most disappointing factor, finishing 31st overall (the power play was 18th, however). Marchessault and Stamkos both had underwhelming first seasons in Nashville, but can they lead the charge to a team-wide comeback?

2. Can Juuse Saros still be elite?

From 2020-21 through 2022-23, Saros posted a .920 save percentage that was top four among No. 1 starters in the NHL and he was a Vezina Trophy finalist once. He became one of the most relied-upon netminders in the league with three consecutive seasons of 60-plus starts. But for two years in a row now Saros’ save percentage has tumbled and he’s finished with a negative goals saved above expected number. At 30 years old there’s still time for a bounce back season and the Predators need it from him to have any shot at crawling back into the playoff picture. The 2025-26 season will be Year 1 of an eight-year contract extension he signed in 2024 that comes with a $7.74 million cap hit.

3. Will Luke Evangelista have a contract before the season starts?

As important as Stamkos, Marchessault and O’Reilly are, growth from Nashville’s early-20s players will be integral to get them out of the basement. Of those types, Evangelista has had the most success so far, though his points per game stalled from 2023-24 to 2024-25. Last year Evangelista scored 10 times and had 32 points in 68 games. So far, this hasn’t led to a contract extension, and he’s one of the few remaining RFAs. Camp is opening and a deal is still not done — if it drags on for too long then both sides begin to run the risk of a slow start.