Apr 16, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) skates behind the net against the Dallas Stars during the third period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
It’s difficult to talk about the Nashville Predators’ 2024-25 season without re-hashing the disappointments that plagued the team from start to finished.
What began as a season of high hopes and expectations quickly faded to a 30-44-8 record and 68-point seventh-place finish in the Central Division.
While this off-season has seen the additions of promising prospects in Brady Martin (fifth overall) and Ryker Lee (26th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft, along with veteran blueliners Nick Perbix and Nicolas Hague, it certainly didn’t match the splash of last summer’s acquisitions of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.
As the Predators prepare for the 2025-26 season, there are plenty of burning questions facing them. Here are five.
Can The Offense Bounce Back?
There’s nowhere to go but up. The Predators finished 31st in total goals (212), 31st in shooting percentage (4.24) and 30th in goal differential (-62), just to name a few.
The previous season, the Predators scored 266 goals (10th overall), finishing fourth in the Central before losing in six games to Vancouver in the first round of the playoffs. On paper, they were projected to be even better in 2024-25, only to fall way short of that mark.
Stamkos tallied 27 goals in 82 games this past season, 13 fewer than in 2023-24, when he had 40 in 79 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Marchessault’s goal production dropped from 42 over 82 regular-season games in 2023-24 with the Vegas Golden Knights to 21 over 78 contests this past season.
There were other factors that contributed to the Predators’ offensive struggles than the two star veterans. But as the 2025-26 season unfolds, success will depend on their production.
It’s difficult to fathom that Stamkos, 35, and Marchessault, 34, both mysteriously aged so significantly over a season. The only way they will prove doubters wrong is to get some semblance of their old form back. If that happens, the rest of the offensive problems should take care of themselves.
Will A Younger Blueline Mean A Better Blueline?
On the flip side, Nashville’s defense finished 27th in goals against with 274. Quite a drop from the 248 (13th) the previous year.
Predators general manager Barry Trotz pledged to go younger and bigger on defense. True to his word, he traded for Vegas Golden Knights blueliner Nicolas Hague June 29. The Predators sent defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and center Colton Sissons to Vegas. Hague then inked a four-year contract extension.
Trotz also signed defenseman Nick Perbix to a two-year, $5.50 million contract on the first day of free agency.
Hague mainly played with Zach Whitecloud on the Golden Knights’ third pairing last season, scoring 12 points in 68 games. As a 6-foot-6, 245-pound left-shot defender, he will add much-needed size and physicality to the Predators back end. At 26, he also gives the team more youth on the blueline.
Perbix scored 19 points in 74 games with the Lightning last season. He’ll also add size at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds.
Perbix provides the Predators with a right-shot option on the blueline, and could be an ideal third pairing with Hague. His +8 was higher than any Nashville player last season.
Can Juuse Saros Regain His Old Form?
Great defense may win championships, but so does great goaltending.
Last season, Saros went 20-31-6 in 58 games with a 2.98 goals-against average and an .896 save percentage.
In 2023-24, Saros posted a 35-24-5 mark in 64 regular-season games with a 2.86 GAA and .906 SP. In six post-season games that year, he was 2-4 with a 2.02 GAA and .900 SP.
Saros, who signed an eight-year, $61.92 million contract last summer, has appeared in 128 games over the past two seasons, counting the playoffs in 2023-24. His drop-off in performance could be due to wear and tear, but it’s unlikely his workload will change drastically next season.
Perhaps a longer off-season will recharge Saros. The Predators are certainly counting on it.
Is Getting Back To The Playoffs A Realistic Goal?
While talk of winning a Stanley Cup has lessened considerably since last season, getting back to the post-season is not out of the realm of possibility.
At his introductory press conference earlier this week, Hague recalled the disappointment Vegas felt in 2022 when they missed making the playoffs by just three points.
The following season, the Golden Knights won the 2023 Stanley Cup.
"We were very hungry and felt like we had something to prove that next year," Hague said.
That hunger, coupled with the presence of previous Stanley Cup champions Stamkos, Marchessault and Hague, could be just what the Predators need to get back to the post-season.
Is Andrew Brunette On The Hot Seat?
Trotz told reporters back in May that Andrew Brunette would be retained as head coach for next season.
"(Brunette) is a good young coach,” Trotz said. “He had a tough situation this year. But like a good young player, you have to stick with a good young coach."
Such votes of confidence have often been the kiss of death for a coach’s job security. Another slow start by the Predators could lead to major changes, and it’s not far-fetched to think that Brunette, and even Trotz, for that matter, could be on the receiving end of those changes.