Has the Predators’ blueline improved enough to bounce back?
After a tough result last season, the Nashville Predators are hoping for a much-desired positive performance during the 2025-26 campaign.
Despite going out and getting big names like Steven Stamkos and Jontahan Marchessault prior to the 2024-25 season, the Predators felt flat on their face. The team never recovered from a terrible start, ultimately finishing seventh in the Central Division with just 68 points, the franchise’s lowest point total in a full 82-game schedule since its inaugural season.
A lot of the blame went to its defense. Despite having a good netminder in Juuse Saros, the absence of Roman Josi due to injury, and the lackluster play of Brady Skjei, Nashville ended up allowing 274 goals, finishing 27th in the NHL.
General manager Barry Trotz has attempted to bolster the back end by acquiring Nicolas Hague from the Vegas Golden Knights. However, he’s expected to be out of action for another few weeks due to injury.
On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Carter Hutton explains the defensive woes in Smashville and whether they will improve in the coming year.
Carter Hutton: You look at their back end and you look at Roman Josi, who wasn’t healthy last year. They brought in Nicolas Hague, who’s going to be out for 4-6 weeks…Brady Skjei hasn’t really lived up to his end of the bargain…When I look at this back end, I don’t really see who’s going to eat up a bunch of minutes when you have [Nick] Perbix, [Andreas Englund], [Nick] Blankenburg. There’s not really a bunch of big names there that are going to come in and just solidify the back end.
One thing I will say, you see Saros at his size, when the game gets chaotic and there’s more traffic and there isn’t predictability in the D-zone, it’s only going to get harder and harder. So, I think he’s a true pro, and I look for him to bounce back, but I feel like his hands are going to be tied with what’s in front of him, as well.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…