The Nashville Predators have big expectations heading into this upcoming NHL season. General manager Barry Trotz made waves when he signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei during the free agency period. Adding these talents to a core that also consisted of other stars like captain Roman Josi and Ryan O’Reilly, have made the Predators one of the more dangerous rosters in the Western Conference. How far all of this talent gets them will soon be determined, starting in the fall.
There are three key storylines that fans will pay attention to as the puck officially drops on the regular season in October. Others will play out as well, but these three stick out at this point in time.
1. How Do the New Players Gel With the Rest of the Team?
Many in the hockey world expect it should not be a huge transition for Stamkos and Marchessault in the Predators’ lineup. However, both 40-goal scorers are at least the age of 33, with Marchessault turning 34 in December. They both have not shown signs of slowing down, but any one of these seasons could start the decline for either of them. If Nashville is going to take advantage of the firepower they just brought in, they need to do it sooner rather than later.
A classic example of bringing in big names with no Cup result was the Minnesota Wild when they signed Zach Parise from the New Jersey Devils and Ryan Suter from the Predators. It was huge for the Wild to land both of those talents. They donned that jersey for many seasons, but they never even made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Soon, Parise and Suter got older and the team eventually cut ties with them before their contracts officially expired. As great as it can be to land two of the biggest names in free agency, enough winning still needs to come on the ice.
Will Stamkos and Marchessault be the next version of Parise and Suter? Probably not. However, the more seasons passed with Parise and Suter on the Wild, the tougher it became for them to be part of winning a Cup with the franchise.
As for Skjei, he helps solidify the defensive core for Nashville, while also adding some offense to the position. Josi was the Predators’ best scorer on the blue line with 23 goals and 62 assists for 85 points in 82 games. He had such a great season among the NHL’s best, that he was a finalist for the 2024 Norris Trophy (Quinn Hughes won it). Skjei solidifies more scoring from the defense. During the last few seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, his point production has been significant. During his entire stint in Raleigh, Skjei posted the following:
- 2019-20: one assist in seven games
- 2020-21: three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 52 games
- 2021-22: nine goals and 30 assists for 39 points in 82 games
- 2022-23: 18 goals and 20 assists for 38 points in 81 games
- 2023-24: 13 goals and 34 assists for 47 points in 80 games
Most of Skjei’s time with the Hurricanes resulted in him putting up his best offensive stats. If he can at least keep this same level of production with the Predators, there will be no issues with him gelling with his new teammates on the blue line. A backend core that contains Josi, Skjei, Dante Fabbro, Luke Schenn, Alexandre Carrier, and Jeremy Lauzon could work out very well for the organization and their fans. Skjei individually has the potential to become the most offensive defender (not named Josi) on the roster.
2. How Does Andrew Brunette Adjust in Year 2 of Coaching the Predators?
Predators head coach Andrew Brunette has had solid success as an NHL head coach in the limited amount of time he has held that kind of position. He was the interim bench boss for the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season after Joel Quenneville resigned from the position. During that time with the Panthers, Brunette put together a 51-18-6 record for 108 points and won the Atlantic Division. Florida also went 4-6 during the 2022 Playoffs.
Brunette was not brought back to coach with the Panthers (they instead hired Paul Maurice who is still their head coach currently). It was a surprising move at the time, considering Brunette was honored as a Jack Adams Award finalist. He got his next head coaching opportunity when Nashville let go of John Hynes. Brunette was hired on May 31, 2023.
In Brunette’s first season as head coach of the Predators, he posted a record of 47-30-5 for 99 points. He was nominated, along with Rick Tocchet (Vancouver Canucks) and Rick Bowness (Winnipeg Jets), for the Jack Adams in 2024. Those 99 points also resulted in being ranked fourth in the Central Division. They ranked fifth in goals-for in the Western Conference with 269. The four teams in the West ahead of them were the Colorado Avalanche (304 goals), Dallas Stars (298), Edmonton Oilers (294), and Canucks (279). They should be able to build on that with the additions of Stamkos and Marchessault into the lineup.
Brunette will have to build on last season. It was a good first campaign for him as Nashville’s head coach. Now, he needs to keep the strategies that were working and fix whatever caused the mistakes that were made. Brunette turns 51 years old later this month. He’s a young head coach and he will be continuing to gain experience as he helps get this team into a great spot for a possible playoff berth. How he improves from his first season as Predators coach to this upcoming season, the hockey world will soon find out.
3. Will Saros Continue to Be One of the Best Goalies in the League?
The Predators and their fans have benefitted from having a stellar goalie in Juuse Saros right after having Pekka Rinne for a bunch of seasons. Making a comparison to another sport, it is like the San Francisco 49ers going from Joe Montana at quarterback to Steve Young. Goalies, like quarterbacks, are so crucial to the rest of their respective teams. How well a goalie plays can really affect the dynamic of the rest of the team. It benefitted the Predators that they did not have to wait at all in between star goalies.
While Saros has not won a Vezina Trophy yet, he has all the tools to earn one during his time with the Predators. He will have competition from others around the league like Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he is capable of being one of the best goalies on the planet and should be able to win a Vezina Trophy at least once. He is under contract with Nashville until 2033, as he signed an eight-year extension worth $61.92 million. He will have plenty of time to continue to be one of the best at his position in the NHL. He is the kind of goalie that, if he gets hot at the right time, the rest of the league is in big trouble. A Stanley Cup Final with the Predators is in his future. It is just a matter of getting there.
Related: Report: Predators’ Juuse Saros to Sign 8-Year Extension on Monday
There are plenty of other storylines for the Predators heading into the 2024-25 season. Three of the most important are the new additions gelling with the rest of the lineup, how Brunette adjusts his coaching from last season, and whether Saros can stay in superb form. This upcoming campaign is going to be very intriguing. There is a lot to keep an eye on, and soon the fans will see how it all plays out.
