A new season begins for the Nashville Predators on Oct. 1 and Chris MacFarland's roster will immediately be put to the test.
The Predators take on the Minnesota Wild (7 p.m. CT, The Spot Nashville 28) at Bridgestone Arena, a challenge that should illuminate Nashville's relative strengths and weaknesses.
MacFarland, the Predators' new president of hockey operations and general manager, built an intriguing roster over the summer. He kept older veterans like Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, and Ryan O'Reilly, added young contributors like Mavrik Bourque, Jack Drury, and Nils Hoglander, then traded away potential future pieces Luke Evangelista, Fedor Svechkov and Zach L'Heureux.
"We have a road map as to how we think we're going to get there," MacFarland
told The Tennessean on Sept. 10. "There will be zigs and zags in that path. There will be things that you might go, 'Hmm, what's that all about?' Why that move at this time? But it is not done in a vacuum."
Here's one season prediction for 23 players that made the opening night roster, which was announced on Sept. 29.
Filip Forsberg: The Predators' all-time leading goal scorer finishes with 45 goals, his fourth 40-goal season with Nashville.
Steven Stamkos: Leads the Predators with 15 power play goals, including one on opening night against Minnesota.
Jack Drury: One of the league's best face-off winners, Drury wins 58.4% of his draws this season, more than making up for the loss Michael McCarron (career 52% on face-offs).
Ryan O'Reilly: O'Reilly is in the final year of his contract with Nashville. With the Predators out of the race in February, he's traded at the deadline.
Adam Wilsby: How about another trade? The Predators move Wilsby in December, just prior to calling up top defenseman prospect Tanner Molendyk.
Matthew Wood: Wood will likely skate with Forsberg, which leads to a 50-plus point breakout season.
Mavrik Bourque: MacFarland's top summer acquisition, Bourque scores against his old team, the Dallas Stars, on Oct. 3.
Roman Josi: For the first time in over a decade, Josi doesn't lead the Predators in average ice time per game. The 36-year-old is slowing down slightly and should be used less on the penalty kill to save his minutes.
Brady Skjei: Skjei, the Predators' new "Ironman," plays in all 82 games for the third straight season. He also passes Josi in average ice time.
Nils Höglander: Höglander, who came over in a trade with Vancouver, scores the first goal of the season against Minnesota on Oct. 1.
Jonathan Marchessault: A rejuvenated Marchessault surpasses the 60-point mark, bouncing back from his abysmal 2025-26 (31 points).
Juuse Saros: Nashville's top goalie starts only 50 games, his lowest total in five seasons. Goalie tandems are increasingly common in the NHL and the Predators are embracing that.
Justus Annunen: The "backup" goaltender starts 34 games, going 18-14-2 this season.
Nicolas Hague: Hague leads the Predators in hits and blocked shots.
Ryan Ufko: One of the bright spots on defense, Ufko finishes with 35 points and earns some Calder Trophy votes.
Nick Perbix: Perbix was waived on Sept. 28, but went unclaimed. He's off the roster, either via trade or waivers, by November.
Ilya Lyubushkin: Lyubushkin came over in the Bourque trade as a cap casualty from Dallas. Like Perbix, he was waived on Sept. 28 and is probably not long in Nashville.
Jack Ahcan: He becomes this year's Nick Blankenburg, an undersized, but serviceable ,defenseman with a small penalty killing role.
Ross Colton: Colton is a nice addition, but not likely part of the future. The 29-year-old forward is traded at the deadline.
Reid Schaefer: With only eight points in 47 games last year, Schaefer is running out of runway. He gets waived mid-season and is claimed by another team.
Adam Edström: Edström is 6-foot-7 and seems bigger than that. He scores a couple goals early, but is waived by December.
Alex Kerfoot: A potential steal by MacFarland, Kerfoot plays on the top line with O'Reilly and Stamkos and finishes with 40 points.
William Trudeau: A very late addition to the Predators' roster, Trudeau will be gone as quickly as he arrived. He's waived in October.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com, follow him on X at@alexdaugherty1 or check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 23 players made Predators' initial roster. We make a prediction for each one
