Nicolas Hague was the initial plan for the Nashville Predators to play alongside Roman Josi on the top pairing, but now the team will have to turn to a Plan B to open the regular season.
Hague has been reported to have an upper body injury received in Sunday's preseason matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, forcing the veteran defenseman to miss possibly up to four to six weeks. The regular season opens two weeks from today against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
#Preds defenseman Nic Hague will miss 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury. Hague was injured on Sunday in a preseason game.
— Brooks Bratten (@brooksbratten) September 24, 2025
It was Hague's first game of the preseason, making his debut for the Predators against the Panthers. He notched an assist and three shots in just over 15 minutes of ice time in a 5-3 win.
Hague lined up with Josi before leaving the game in the second period after taking hit behind the net. It's now expected that Hague could miss at least one month of the regular season, which leaves Head Coach Andrew Brunette with the quick task to find out who will fill in alongside Josi.
Regarding Hague's injury, #Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette says "obviously it's a big loss" but there will be some "trial and error" on who will play with Roman Josi for now. Brunette compliments Adam Wilsby's play once again; Wilsby skated with Josi last night.
— Brooks Bratten (@brooksbratten) September 24, 2025
Adam Wilsby is definitely the first player that comes to mind to step in for Hague. He's part of that young crop of talented that is NHL-ready. Wilsby played in 23 games last season with one goal and four assists before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
With Hague out of the picture, Brunette will probably try multiple combinations to see what works best. He has three more preseason games left to experiment, one against Tampa Bay and two against Carolina. Expect to see Wilsby get at least one more game with Josi in the preseason.
Other possibilities to try with Josi in Hague's absence is veteran Nick Perbix or they could try Justin Barron again. Perbix has never really been a top pairing defenseman in his NHL career and Barron brings inefficiencies on defense, but does at least bring some offense.
Then there's the chance that the Predators go heavy on the top pairing with Brady Skjei taking the left side and Josi moving to the right side.
Wilsby seems to be the next-best option to try first, that way you can keep Skjei on the second pairing with Perbix. Skjei and Perbix lined up together in the last preseason game against Tampa Bay, each logging over 20 minutes of ice time.
This would leave your bottom pairing really up for grabs with Nick Blankenburg, Justin Barron, Jordan Oesterle, Andreas Englund and Spencer StastneyJust to name a few. So the Predators do have the benefit of being very deep with NHL-caliber defensemen to fill in until Hague is back.
Regardless of the depth on defense, this is a tough blow because Hague was your main offseason acquisition acquired in the trade with the Vegas Golden Knights that sent Jeremy Lauzon out West. Now we'll have to wait to see the initial results of that trade, but Hague was being counted on to beef up the blueline and provide some stability.
This does present a great opportunity for Wilsby to solidify his role and pick up where he left off before being injured last season. He should get a strong look with Josi before anyone else. He's an important part of the long-term future of the Predators defensive corps, so let's see how he responds to the opportunity to log big minutes with Josi.