The Predators were too good to fail last year, but not nearly strong enough to actually compete.
And that’s basically become Nashville’s trademark in recent years. Despite efforts to tear this team down and build it up over the last few seasons, the result has always been the same: a finish in the mushy middle.
So how can the Predators create a path out of this situation? It depends. But either scenario leaves this team with a lot of work ahead.
Here’s where the Predators stand going into the 2026-27 season using the Cup checklist. All projected values are age-adjusted based on each player’s profile of comparable peers.
What the Predators have
For years, everything has revolved around Nashville’s core players at each position: Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi and Juuse Saros. The Predators just have to be realistic about where each of these players fit at this point in their respective careers.
Saros’ best days are likely behind him after falling below expectations in three straight years. His shorter stature only gives him a taller hill to climb to get back to that bona-fide star territory. So do incoming age-related declines. For now, at least, he’s still passable; the fact he was a bit closer to average relative to his workload this season helps keep him there, along with his starting volume.
Josi is also in a race against Father Time at 35 years old, but elite players tend to age better than the average skater. He’s enough of a difference-maker offensively to hold his role as a franchise defenseman.
Forsberg, on the other hand, fits more comfortably in the next tier as a scoring forward on a contender. He still shoots the puck often and efficiently, which adds a sustainability factor to his goal-scoring ability. The play-driving just isn’t as strong as years past.
Ryan O’Reilly has still got it on both ends of the ice between his shutdown game and his playmaking, and that helped Steven Stamkos get back on track on the wing. He may not be as dimensional a threat anymore, or strong enough to shake it at center, but he is still a dangerous goal scorer.
Two up-and-comers showed long-term potential in supporting and depth roles. Luke Evangelista gave the team a playmaking spark in the top six, and at 24 years old, there’s likely more untapped potential there. Zachary L’Heureux showed some defensive upside, too.
What the Predators need
There’s two ways to answer this, but it depends on what direction management decides to take this summer.
The Predators either need to find high-end talent to maximize these last few core years with Josi, Saros and Forsberg or it’s time to find that next wave of franchise cornerstones.
Barry Trotz tried the former with some splashy signings such as O’Reilly, Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, and it clearly hasn’t worked out. Instead, the team is left with a lot of aging contracts and no true game-breaker at the top of the forward group.
Maybe with more support around him in Nashville, Forsberg could sneak back up to star territory — but realistically, for how long, since he’s already on the wrong side of 30? Maybe Evangelista can up his game to give the Predators two “scoring” caliber options and deepen the approach. He outperformed comps such as Josh Bailey and Reilly Smith at this age, but has to level up a little more to follow the T.J. Oshie track. But that doesn’t mean this team can move forward without addressing those top slots entirely.
There may be some help on the way from the pipeline, which Scott Wheeler ranked sixth this spring. Brady Martin, Ryker Lee and Yegor Surin all have top-six potential and could be the up-and-coming talent this team needs to bridge that gap between the young and the old. But Nashville can’t rush these players into pressure-packed roles to just give this window one last push if their timelines don’t line up with the core players.
The other question is who can step up for O’Reilly as he ages out of being an elite shutdown presence. If L’Heureux follows in the footsteps of Jesper Fast or Mathieu Joseph, then that’s just a third-liner track. But he also has shared traits with Ryan Callahan and William Karlsson, which would be even more promising.
At least there’s some depth up front. The defense needs even more work. Not only is there no “next Josi” waiting in the wings, he also has very little top-four help around him, despite some big-ticket adds. So if Josi can’t maintain his high level, this blue line is cooked.
Skjei hasn’t filled Ryan McDonagh’s shoes well enough, and the 32-year-old still has another five years and $35 million left on his contract. Nicolas Hague wasn’t up to the task in Year 1 in Nashville, either. If Adam Wilsby becomes the next Matt Roy, maybe he can jump up to the shutdown role. There are a few Tier 1 players in Nashville’s prospect pool, too, but there just aren’t a ton of options elsewhere with the upcoming free agent class in mind. It’s either to the trade market or asking an up-and-comer to jump into a supporting role, which will likely take some developmental time.
The big question
How do the Predators get out of the mushy middle?
Nashville’s roster is far from contender-caliber. But as this last season showed, despite a poor start, the Predators weren’t bottom-feeders, either. This team was just two wins back from making the playoffs (where they likely would have been bounced by the Colorado Avalanche just as quickly as the Los Angeles Kings were). That late-season push dropped their odds of picking in the top five and landed Nashville with the No. 10 pick.
And that’s pretty much been the story here over the last eight years now: the Predators either make the playoffs and exit early, or finish just outside the bubble. Neither outcome moves the needle; it keeps the Preds spinning their wheels in the mushy middle.
Some mixed direction over the last couple of years contributed to this. When Trotz took over as general manager, it seemed like this team was going to commit to getting younger around its core players, and to Nashville’s credit, the team is flush with mid-range picks over the next few seasons. But Trotz strayed from the path after a dramatic turnaround into the playoffs, which led to management making big offseason swings that have left this team with little mobility. Skjei, Marchessault and Stamkos all have no-movement clauses; O’Reilly doesn’t, but the team is operating as if he does.
That leaves Nashville in a tricky position, because this veteran core isn’t actively bad enough to finish low enough in the standings to earn a franchise-altering draft pick. But this team clearly isn’t strong enough to actually compete, either.
As fantastic a coach as Trotz may have been, those skills didn’t translate to a front-office role. So now comes the task of finding a new voice to lead the way, and hoping that the next general manager will give this team a direction and stick to the process.
How long it takes for the Predators to measure back to a championship-caliber squad all depends on what direction this new-look front office decides to take. A lot is hanging in the balance on who takes over as general manager after a disappointing last few years.