2024-25
Record: 30-44-8, 7th in Central Division
Playoffs: Missed Stanley Cup Playoffs
Key Losses
Colton Sissons (F – Trade with VGK), and Jeremy Lauzon (D – Trade with VGK)
Key Additions
Nicolas Hague (D – Trade with VGK), Nick Prebix (D – Signed via FA), and Erik Haula (F – Trade with NJ)
2025-26 Preview
Retooling Their Defense
Going into the offseason, general manager Barry Trotz had a major need in retooling the Nashville Predators’s defense after having the abysmal 2024-25 season they endured. Trotz traded forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to Vegas for defenseman Nicolas Hauge. Then Trotz signed free agent defenseman Nick Prebix to bolster their blue line.
“You’re getting a 6-foot-6 defenseman who we project is going to be in that top four [of our defense corps],” Trotz said of Hague. “He’s going to play high minutes… We just feel he’s one of those players that is going to make a difference in the right age category for us as a hockey team…and getting someone who is…maybe a little bit undervalued in his previous situation.”
“The big thing for me was the trade that we did [for Hague],” Trotz continued. “That one feels absolutely right for where we want to go with this team… We’ve got lots of good players [on defense]. I mean, having a healthy Roman Josi back in on the defense that we currently have and the depth that we have there, I think we’re going to be really, really good. And that’ll make [goaltender Juuse] Saros’s life a lot better too, because last year, there [were] times it was very unfair for him. He took a lot of heat for it unnecessarily.
If you can’t defend, you can’t win. We’ve just got to be better at defending. Start there, and then you’re always in the game when you can defend.”
“I get excited about stuff like that,” Hague said of Trotz’s words. “I think it’s an opportunity for me to take that next step as a player, and it was something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and something I think I’m ready for. So, for me, it’s just embracing that opportunity and really showing the player I am and what I can do with them.”
Needing a Bounceback
After high expectations after signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, the Predators failed to make the playoffs and had one of the most abysmal seasons in recent franchise history.
For Hague, he knows the feeling of missing the playoffs and having something to prove the next season.
“I think that’s a powerful feeling to have as a team – and I also thought it was a fluke, by the way,” Hague said of Nashville’s previous season. “I will say the year before we won [the Stanley Cup] in Vegas, we missed the playoffs, and that didn’t sit well with anybody. We were very hungry, felt like we had something to prove coming into that next year and obviously we were able to do that to the full extent. So, that’s a powerful feeling in a locker room, if everybody can buy in and have something to prove. I think that can take a team a long way.”
The Predators have the talent, and with the recent retooling to the blue line, they should have a solid bounceback season. However, being in a stacked Central Division, the Predators will need to come out hot, and maintain consistency throughout the 2025-26 season with the hopes of making their return to the playoffs.
Projected Lineup
Offense
Filip Forsberg — Ryan O’Reilly — Jonathan Marchessault
Steven Stamkos — Fedor Svechkov — Michael Bunting
Joakim Kemell — Erik Haula — Luke Evangelista
Cole Smith — Michael McCarron — Zachary L’Heureux
Defense
Nicolas Hague — Roman Josi
Brady Skjei — Nick Perbix
Adam Wilsby — Justin Barron
Goalies
Juuse Saros
Justus Annunen
Resources
- Bratton, Brooks. Trotz Talks Free Agency, Defense, Future Prospects for Preds, July 1, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/trotz-talks-free-agency-defense-future-prospects-for-preds-2025-07-01.
- Bratton, Brooks. Hague Ready for Increased Role, Excited to Help Preds Bounce Back, July 10, 2025. https://www.nhl.com/predators/news/hague-ready-for-increased-role-excited-to-help-preds-bounce-back-2025-07-10.
TXHT may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through Cool Hockey and Oats Overnight ads/links in this article.