The Nashville Predators come into 2023-24 as somewhat of a mystery, but everyone agrees that they are not close to a Stanley Cup contender. If they could even make the playoffs not as a wildcard team, that would be a shock.
But quite honestly, there are many different directions in which these new look Predators could go. There are tons of moving parts and realistically it will take time for everything to come together, but this team does have more upside than a lot of people think.
The blend of veterans and youth makes a lot of sense for what they want to accomplish, and there are some aspects of this team that legitimately and usually translate to success.
Three things stick out as reasons why the Predators could truly shock the hockey world in 2023-24.