Projected Lineups for Predators vs Canadiens –10/16/25

The Nashville Predators take on the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre today. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

PREDATORS (2-1-1) at CANADIENS (3-1-0)

7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, FDSNSO

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg — Ryan O’Reilly — Steven Stamkos
Tyson Jost — Fedor Svechkov — Luke Evangelista
Michael Bunting — Erik Haula — Jonathan Marchessault
Cole Smith — Michael McCarron — Ozzy Wiesblatt

Adam Wilsby — Roman Josi
Brady Skjei — Nick Perbix
Spencer Stastney — Justin Barron

Juuse Saros
Justus Annunen

Scratched: Joakim Kemell, Nick Blankenburg, Brady Martin

Injured: Nicolas Hague (upper body)

Status report

Stamkos and Jost will switch spots on the top two lines. … Hague, a defenseman, took part in the Predators morning skate Thursday but is not ready to make his season debut.

Latest for THW:

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Zach Bolduc — Kirby Dach — Brendan Gallagher
Patrik Laine — Jake Evans — Josh Anderson
Oliver Kapanen — Alex Newhook — Ivan Demidov

Mike Matheson — Noah Dobson
Kaiden Guhle — Lane Hutson
Jayden Struble — Alexandre Carrier

Jakub Dobes
Sam Montembeault

Scratched: Joe Veleno, Arber Xhekaj

Injured: None

Status report

The Canadiens held an optional morning skate. … Struble will make his season debut and Xhekaj, a defenseman, will be a healthy scratch for the first time. … Veleno will be a healthy scratch for a fifth straight game; Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said he expects to get the forward into the lineup soon to make his Montreal debut.