Offseason Checklist: Nashville Predators

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Nashville.

After a strong showing in the second half last season to make the playoffs, Predators GM Barry Trotz was a big spender in free agency, handing out long-term deals to forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault along with blueliner Brady Skjei.  Accordingly, expectations were quite high heading into 2024-25.  Instead, the team struggled mightily, becoming one of the worst teams in the NHL.  As a result, it could be a busy summer for Nashville once again.

Add Scoring Help

For a team that added two quality offensive threats in Stamkos and Marchessault that’s run by a coach whose teams were pretty high scoring in his two years behind a bench, offense was not supposed to be a problem for the Predators this season.  Instead, they went from being in the top ten in goals scored in 2023-24 to finishing second-last league-wide in that department with a drop-off in tallies of 44 or more than half a goal per game.

Assuming that Andrew Brunette is back behind the bench next season, he’ll be tasked with trying to turn things around on that front.  Objectively, there’s cause for optimism that some of the veterans should be poised to rebound; can they all have down years a second year in a row or will at least some of them bounce back?

But relying on internal improvement probably isn’t going to be enough to turn their fortunes around.  They’re going to have to look outside the organization to add someone.  More specifically, they need to add an impact center.

Ryan O’Reilly had a decent season overall but he certainly is not a true number one center.  They hoped that Thomas Novak would take on a bigger part of the scoring load.  Instead, he struggled and was shipped to Pittsburgh with Michael Bunting coming the other way.  A full season with Bunting will help offensively but the move further exacerbated how weak the center spot is.  Fedor Svechkov has some potential and could help in that regard down the road but counting on him to be a full-time top-six middleman next season would be asking for a lot.

It’s something that’s generally much easier said than done given that many other teams will be looking to add an impact center this summer, either through trade or free agency.  But the Predators certainly need to do just that unless they’re convinced that Stamkos can be a full-time middleman moving forward after spending considerable time on the wing the last two seasons.

Bring In An Impact Defenseman

When you think about the rosters the Predators have had over the years, they’ve been fortunate to have a steady supply of high-quality blueliners.  They had enough of them that they were able to move some out to fill other holes on the roster.  Unfortunately for them, that is no longer the case.

Roman Josi remains the mainstay on the back end and while he’s coming off a down year offensively like many others, he has three years left on his contract and there’s little reason to think he’s going anywhere.  Skjei had some ups and downs in his first year with Nashville but he is certainly a legitimate top-four defenseman and will be around for the long haul as he’s signed through 2031.  That’s a good start defensively.

The problem is that things go downhill from there.  Alexandre Carrier was a top-four regular but was moved to Montreal for Justin Barron, a youngster who has shown flashes of top-four skill but his consistency has been an issue.  Jeremy Lauzon was hurt for most of the year and is probably best suited for the third pairing.  Adam Wilsby and Nick Blankenburg showed some flashes but neither is a lock to be a top-four guy down the road while Marc Del Gaizo, Spencer Stastney, Jordan Oesterle, and Andreas Englund are more depth pieces.

Is it possible that one player from that group can emerge as a legitimate top-four down the road?  Sure.  But even if that happens, they’re still missing one impact blueliner at a minimum.  Long-term, prospects Tanner Molendyk and Ryan Ufko have shown some upside but they’re probably not NHL-ready yet; Molendyk has yet to play professionally.  There is a real need to add at least one top-four piece this summer.

It’s worth noting that Nashville is well-positioned to try to add impact players in the coming months.  They have over $17MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, giving them ample space to try to add multiple impact players for the second straight year.  They also have three first-round picks at their disposal and while they could use all three to really bolster their future depth, at least one of those could be dangled to add a key blueliner or fill the opening down the middle.

Re-Sign Evangelista

Almost all of Nashville’s roster is already under contract for next season, making their list of free agents about as small as can be.  A pair of depth players (Del Gaizo and Jakub Vrana) are pending UFAs while there’s only one full-timer who is slated to become a restricted free agent, winger Luke Evangelista.

The 23-year-old’s entry-level contract is coming to an end and it’s fair to say that Nashville got strong value on it with a cap hit just below $800K.  His first full season was in 2023-24 when he had 16 goals and 23 assists in 80 games and followed that up with 10 tallies and 22 helpers in 68 outings this season while logging a little under 14 minutes per game in both years.  In terms of secondary production from the middle six, he did relatively well all things considered.

Evangelista has four RFA-eligible seasons remaining which gives Trotz some options.  Given that he’s more of a role player at this point, a long-term contract seems unlikely although considering Nashville gave Colton Sissons a seven-year deal while being a role player, it can’t entirely be ruled out either.  More likely is that Trotz opts for a bridge contract between one and three years, ensuring he’ll still be a restricted free agent at its expiry where they could then determine if the time is right to sign him long-term.  With how he fared over his first couple of seasons, a two-year deal could land around $2.25MM while a three-year pact could run closer to $2.6MM with the extra year being an arbitration-eligible year.

Make Some Room

This was a stated goal by Trotz as the season went on and we saw the idea of it in the Carrier-for-Barron swap although they also gave up on Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino.  It runs counterintuitive to the idea of adding impact veterans but both things can be done this summer.

Up front, Svechkov is ready for full-time duty after spending some time with AHL Milwaukee.  Matthew Wood showed some promise in a late-season stint and has the size and physicality to play the gritty game they’re looking for from their bottom six.  Ozzy Wiesblatt had a solid year with the Admirals and could be ready to make the jump as well.  If they want more offense, Joakim Kemell could get into the mix.  To make room, someone like Michael McCarron could be expendable while Sissons will be entering the final year of his deal and should have some trade interest from teams looking to add to their bottom six.  One or two moves like that would allow for a youngster or two to stick will still leaving room to add either via the trade market or free agency.

On the back end, there’s some work that needs to be done to open up a spot for an impact addition at a minimum, more if Ufko or Molendyk make a push for a top-six spot.  Beyond Josi and Skjei, Wilsby is the only other one signed beyond next season so there is some flexibility on that front.  Englund and Oesterle have been on waivers multiple times before and could land there or they could look to flip one for a late-round pick if there’s enough trade interest.  They’ve compiled some depth when it comes to depth defenders but some of that needs to be cashed in if they want to make room for upgrades.

Photo courtesy of Steve Roberts-Imagn Images.