Five questions for Predators as training camp begins

The Predators will take their first steps toward a highly anticipated 2024-25 season on Thursday when training camp begins at Ford Ice Center in Bellevue.

After posting a franchise-record, 18-game point streak and returning to the playoffs last season, the Predators made a huge splash in free agency — signing forward Steven Stamkos, forward Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei.

So it’s fair to say more will be expected of the team this year under coach Andrew Brunette, who finished second in the NHL in coach of the year voting last season.

Here are five questions for the Predators looking ahead to the regular season, which gets underway Oct. 10 against Dallas at Bridgestone Arena: 

Can key vets reproduce huge years?

One of the big reasons for the Preds’ surprising success last year was that four veterans — forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist, along with defenseman Roman Josi — produced tremendous seasons.

The 30-year-old Forsberg totaled career highs in goals (48), assists (46) and points (94), playing 82 games for the first time since 2016-17. The 35-year-old Nyquist produced 23 goals, while also recording career highs in assists (52) and points (75). The 33-year-old O’Reilly had 69 points (26 goals, 43 assists), his most since the 2018-19 season. The 34-year-old Josi notched 85 points (23 goals, 62 assists), the second-highest total of his career.

The four of those players missed a combined one game last year, a pretty incredible feat. Can they stay anywhere near as healthy this season, and can they produce similar stats to last year?

Where will Preds slot Stamkos?

The biggest of the Predators’ free-agent signings over the summer, Stamkos began his career as a center. But for the last several years in Tampa Bay, Stamkos played mainly on the wing. If the 34-year-old Stamkos is up to the rigors of a return to center, it would fill a big hole for the Preds, who are weakest at that position. He would almost certainly have fellow free agent Jonathan Marchessault on one wing, and perhaps budding talent Luke Evangelista on the other.

If the Preds choose to leave Stamkos on the wing, the team would have to center his line — assuming Brunette chooses to keep together the Forsberg-O’Reilly-Nyquist trio. One candidate to serve as the No. 2 center in that situation would be offensively-minded Tommy Novak, whose skills and vision might make a nice fit with Stamkos and Marchessault. Another option would be veteran Colton Sissons. 

Will Juuse Saros bounce back?

Bounce back might be a bit of an exaggeration, considering Saros did go 35-24-5 last season, finishing fifth in Vezina Trophy voting. But many of Saros’ numbers were not up to his usual elite form. His save percentage of .906 was a step down from his career mark of .917, and his 2.86 goals against average was a step higher than his career mark of 2.63. Most notably, Saros — after posting an NHL-best goals saved above expected mark of 46.7 in 2022-23 — tumbled all the way into a tie for 68^th in that department last season, recording a goals save above expected of minus 3.0.

It’s fair to say the Preds are hoping last year was an outlier, considering the team signed him to an eight-year, $61.9 million deal in July. Perhaps a little more rest this season is in order for Saros. He’s led the NHL in games played for three straight years and led the league in shots against for the last two years. Scott Wedgewood provides an experienced backup.

Can the Preds improve their special teams?

The Preds’ special teams did not get the job done well enough last season, as the power play produced a 21.6 percent success rate (16^th in the NHL) and the penalty kill had a 76.9 percent success rate (22^nd). The power-play struggles were even more evident in the playoffs, when Nashville went just 2-for-22 with the man advantage, a 9.1 percent success rate that ranked 14^th out of 16 postseason teams.

But Predators fans are likely already salivating about a first-team power-play unit that will likely be composed of Stamkos, Marchessault, Forsberg, O’Reilly and Josi. Stamkos has scored 49 power-play goals over the past five seasons, the fifth-best total in the NHL. He had 19 power-play goals last year, tied for the second-most of his career. Marchessault has netted a combined 17 power-play goals over the past two seasons. The power play should be far better.

The big addition to the penalty kill will be Skjei, signed as a free agent in July. Skjei averaged 2:12 ice time on the penalty kill last year in Carolina, helping the Hurricanes finish first in the league with an 86.4 percent success rate. In addition, it seems likely that new assistant coach Darby Hendrickson will handle penalty-kill duties. He replaces Dan Hinote, who handled that role last season.

Which prospects will challenge for roster spots?

The offseason signings of Stamkos, Marchessault, Skjei and Wedgewood mean roster spots are at a premium. We’ll assume also that forward Juuso Parssinen and defenseman Spencer Stastney will be back on the NHL level as well. The status of Philip Tomasino, who has 148 games of NHL experience is unclear, as he remains without a contract.

One prospect who’s sure to get a long look in training camp is forward 21-year-old Zach L’Heureux, a 2021 first-round pick who had a great year in Milwaukee last season — totaling 48 points (19 goals, 29 assists) and a whopping 197 penalty minutes during the regular season, then adding 15 points (10 goals, five assists) and 62 penalty minutes in 15 playoff contests. He might just earn a fourth-line spot with his combination of skills and abrasiveness.

Others to keep an eye on: center Fedor Svechkov, a 2021 first-round pick who had 39 points in 57 games at Milwaukee last season; forward Joakim Kemell, a 2022 first-round pick who had 41 points at Milwaukee last season; defenseman Marc Del Gaizo, who looked good in nine games on the NHL level last season; and defenseman Ryan Ufko, whose pro career got off to a promising start in Milwaukee late in the 2023-24 season.

This article was first published by our sister publication the Nashville Post.