The Nashville Predators have high expectations for this upcoming NHL season. General manager Barry Trotz made waves when he signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei during free agency. Adding these talents to a core that included other stars such as captain Roman Josi and Ryan O'Reilly, made the Predators one of the most dangerous teams in the Western Conference. How far all this talent takes them will be determined soon, starting in the fall.
There are three key issues that fans will be paying attention to as the puck officially drops on the regular season in October. Others will play again, but these three are out of this period in time.
1. How Do New Players Play with the Rest of the Team?
Many in the hockey world expect it won't be a big change for Stamkos and Marchessault on the Predators' roster. However, both 40-goal scorers are at least 33 years old, with Marchessault turning 34 in December. Both have shown no signs of slowing down, but either of these seasons could start to slow down for both of them. If Nashville is going to use the firepower they just brought in, they need to do it sooner rather than later.
A classic example of bringing in big names without a trophy impact 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 wore that jersey for many seasons, but never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. Soon, Parise and Suter grew older and the team eventually cut ties with them before their contracts officially expired. While it would be great to get two big names in free agency, enough wins still need to come on the ice.
Will Stamkos and Marchessault be the next version of Parise and Suter? Probably not. However, as more seasons passed with Parise and Suter on the Wild, it became difficult for them to be a part of winning a trophy with the franchise.
As for Skjei, he helps solidify Nashville's defensive core, while adding some offense to the area. Josi was the Predators' leading scorer on the blue line with 23 goals and 62 assists for 85 points in 82 games. He had a great season among the NHL's best, and even became a finalist for the 2024 Norris Trophy (Quinn Hughes won it). Skjei scores a lot of goals in defense. During the last few seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, his point production has been remarkable. While working 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 has resulted in him putting up his best offensive stats. If he can at least maintain this same level of production with the Predators, there will be no problems when he meets his new teammates on the blue line. A backend core consisting of Josi, Skjei, Dante Fabbro, Luke Schenn, Alexandre Carrier, and Jeremy Lauzon can serve the organization and their fans very well. Skjei individually has the potential to be the best offensive linebacker (not named Josi) on the roster.
2. How is Andrew Brunette Adjusting to Year Two of Rapper Training?
Predators head coach Andrew Brunette has had solid success as an NHL head coach in his limited time in that position. He was the interim bench manager of the Florida Panthers for the 2021-22 season after Joel Quenneville resigned from the position. During that time with the Panthers, Brunette compiled 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 (instead they hired Paul Maurice who is currently their head coach). It was a surprising move at the time, considering the brunette was honored as a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. He got his next head coaching opportunity when Nashville released John Hynes. Brunette was hired on May 31, 2023.
In Brunette's first season as head coach of the Predators, he posted a 47-30-5 record with 99 points. He was selected along with Rick Tocchet (Vancouver Canucks) and Rick Bowness (Winnipeg Jets), for Jack Adams in 2024. Those 99 points also led to being ranked fourth in the Central Division. They are ranked fifth in the Western Conference in goals with 269. The four Western teams 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 addition of Stamkos and Marchessault to the roster.
Brunette will have to build on last season. It was a great first campaign for him as Nashville's head coach. Now, you need to keep the strategies that have been working and correct whatever caused the mistakes to be made. The brunette turns 51 later this month. He is a young coach and will continue to gain experience as he helps put this team in a good position for the playoffs. How he progresses from his first season as the Predators coach to this upcoming season, the hockey world will soon find out.
3. Will Saros Continue to Be One of the League's Top Goal Scorers?
The Predators and their fans have benefited from having a top goaltender in Juuse Saros after having Pekka Rinne for several seasons. If we compare it to another game, it's like the San Francisco 49ers going from Joe Montana at quarterback to Steve Young. Goalies, like quarterbacks, are very important to all of their teams. How well a goalkeeper plays can have a big impact on the turnover of the whole team. It benefited the Predators that they didn't wait at all between star goaltenders.
Although Saros has yet to win a Vezina Trophy, he has all the tools to get one during his time with the Predators. He will have competition from others around the world like Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he is capable of being one of the best players in the world and should be able to win the Vezina Trophy at least once. . He is under contract with Nashville until 2033, having 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 type of goalie that when he gets hot at the right time, the rest of the league is in big trouble. A Stanley Cup final against the Predators is in his future. It's just a matter of getting there.
Related: Report: Predators' Juuse Saros to sign 8-year extension Monday
There are plenty of other storylines for the Predators heading into the 2024-25 season. The three most important are the new additions to the rest of the program, how Brunette adjusts his training from last season, and whether Saros can stay in good form. This upcoming campaign will be very exciting. There's a lot to watch, and soon fans will see how it plays out.
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