A new season finds the Nashville Predators in a weird way: Uniquely unsettled, yet widely unnoticed.
Minimal expectations, league-wide, contrast sharply with maximum urgency inside the organization. No one can know exactly where this is headed. Just that however this team looks right now isn’t how it’s going to look a year from now, once new general manager Chris MacFarland settles into a path.
To decide a direction, at least in the short term, MacFarland has said he’ll be taking immediate cues from this team and players. How these Preds perform, especially in the first 10 games, “is going to be very, very important to the direction of this season and future seasons,” he has warned.
So basically, if the Preds start slowly again, some people won’t
be around much longer. That could be coach Andrew Brunette and his staff. It could also go for a sizable portion of an aging roster.
“We've got to get geared up,” Brunette told reporters at the start of training camp. “We’ve got to get the engines rolling right away.”
Yes, indeed.
But hockey remains skeptical. The Predators have missed the playoffs two seasons in a row, and the oddsmakers aren’t fond of their chances to make it this time, either.
Something is about to give. We just don’t know what yet.
1. What if the Predators start poorly again?
MacFarland’s tenure as GM has been relatively calm to this point, with a few surprising exceptions (like trading Luke Evangelista). But a storm could follow that calm rather quickly.
No GM takes a job and publicly bashes the locker room, but MacFarland so far hasn’t exuded a lot of confidence in the hand he was dealt in Nashville. He might not blow up the roster entirely, but as a relative outsider, he also won’t be beholden to anyone in Smashville.
“If you look at our roster,” MacFarland said recently, “I think it's fair to say that there are some very, very good pieces. But I think to say, 'We're ready to win,' I would be lying to you if I said I was satisfied.”
Pay attention to comments like that. They herald change, and more than just a little bit.
2. Where is this going with Juuse Saros?
Via a recent, anonymous poll of experts, The Athletic had Juuse Saros still in the top 10 — barely — of NHL goaltenders entering this season. A caveat in the fine print, though: “There was a consensus agreement that this is a make-or-break season for the veteran.”
That's hardly comforting to read about a goalie who the Predators are contractually bonded to until 2033. Saros' expensive extension will likely go down as Barry Trotz's largest misstep as Preds GM, because it bets on something that statistical trends don’t support.
Saros' save percentage and goals against averages progressively worsened during each of his past four seasons. Last season's GAA (3.16) was the worst of his career, well behind his 2.74 career average. Last season was also his first in a decade in which he didn't record a shutout.
It's reasonable to think that Saros, who is only 31 but has seen a heavy workload in recent years, could respond with more rest and recapture his youthful form. It is also feasible that 26-year-old backup Justus Annunen could displace Saros by season's end. In which case, the Preds could end up saddled for years with the NHL’s costliest No. 2.
3. Who's got next for this franchise?
Steven Stamkos is 36. So is Roman Josi. Ryan O'Reilly and Jonathan Marchessault are 35. Filip Forsberg is 32.
For too long, the Preds' best players have been their oldest players. That'll still be the case in 2026-27, but it won't be for much longer. It is time for more prospects to step up and make a genuine impact for the big club, offering legitimate hope for a future without many of the names listed above.
The best moves MacFarland has made thus far were to restock this team's middle class, so to speak, and thicken the lineup with mid-20s players like Mavrik Bourque and Jack Drury. That needed to happen. What also needs to happen is for a capable, exciting, new generation of talent to materialize through youngsters like Matthew Wood and Brady Martin.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: A new Nashville Predators season is here, and no one knows what to expect | Estes
