Predators offseason acquisition Nicolas Hague won’t be available for around the first month of the regular season after sustaining an upper-body injury in Sunday’s preseason split-squad game against the Panthers. The team issued a four-to-six-week recovery timeline for him today, according to Max Herz of 102.5 The Game.
That creates an opening on the Preds’ top pair to begin an important season for the club, looking to shed off the rust from an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 campaign that saw them finish with the third-worst record in the league. Hague, acquired from the Golden Knights for a package including Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon in June, had taken early reps alongside captain Roman Josi in camp. While both lefties, Josi played a good chunk of last year on his off side on a pairing with Brady Skjei.
When Hague returns the lineup, Nashville is banking on a breakthrough season from the 26-year-old. Acquired as an RFA, the Preds promptly signed him to a four-year extension with a $5.5MM cap hit. The 6’6″, 245-lb rearguard had been an impressively staunch depth presence throughout his first six NHL seasons with Vegas, managing a 20-63–83 scoring line with a +20 rating in 364 career appearances while averaging 110 blocks and 129 hits per 82 games. That output came in almost exclusively bottom-pairing duties behind a combination of Brayden McNabb, Alec Martinez, and Noah Hanifin on the left side of a stacked Vegas defense group, though. He’s averaged 17:33 per game for his career – including some significant penalty killing time. That number is likely to jump to the 20:00 range when his season gets underway.
For a Preds team looking to get off to a strong start, there are suddenly renewed concerns about their defensive depth. Hague being a big piece of the puzzle on the back end was a huge part of general manager Barry Trotz’s offseason strategy, allowing the club to move Skjei down to a more comfortable second-pairing role and spread the wealth in their top four. That’s still an option, but not a particularly appealing one. With Hague gone, that could mean forcing someone like Adam Wilsby into top-pairing minutes for a small stretch if they decide to keep Josi on the right side. Aside from Skjei, there aren’t any NHL-experienced options that have proven capable of shouldering top-pair minutes for any length of time.
Thus, his absence could provide a break for 2023 first-rounder Tanner Molendyk to break camp with the NHL club. The 20-year-old lefty was the 24th overall selection two years ago and will be transitioning to the pros this fall, whether in Nashville or AHL Milwaukee, after five years of major junior play. He split last season between WHL Saskatoon and Medicine Hat, continuing his strong offensive output with 47 points in 49 regular-season games and a 4-16–20 scoring line in 18 playoff contests as he guided the Tigers to a league championship.
Since Molendyk is two years post-draft, burning a year of his entry-level contract isn’t a concern – it’ll go into effect this season regardless of how much NHL action he sees. Unfortunately, the Preds haven’t gotten a look at him in preseason yet. He’s been dealing with a minor lower-body injury since the beginning of camp, although he did skate today for the first time, per Herz. He’ll have all the more motivation now to kick things into high gear with a clear path to his NHL debut on the line.
