For the second-straight season, the Nashville Predators face the intimidating decision of whether or not to commit to a rebuild, and a recent comment from one of their top scorers confirms that it might not happen.
"We had some meetings today and I think the expectation is still to be a competitive team and to push for the playoffs," Steven Stamkos said at end of the year media conference. "I don't anticipate any huge changes. We've kind of talked about 'is there going to be a rebuild?'" I think that's probably safe to say that's not going to be the case."Per Nashville Predators YouTube
Uncertainty will fill the air for the next few months in Nashville as its front office sits vacant. With General Manager Barry Trotz leaving the organization, and a search for a new one in the works, priorities on the offseason moves will be redirected. Despite this, the same message stands: the Predators will not be committing to a rebuild anytime soon.
Nashville missed the playoffs by four points; a tiny gap compared to its 28-point deficit from last season. The team finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 38-34-10 record. It resurged in the new calendar year, finding itself in a playoff spot by the trade deadline. However, the Predators quickly fell out of the race, going 4-5-1 in their final 10 games of the season.
It's becoming clear that the team needs some serious work before they can take on the postseason, even though they have a handful of elite talent. Stamkos's comment only confirms that fans' wishes of selling now and buying later isn't in the books, for the mean time at least.
A rebuild isn't a realistic option for the Predators organization in this given moment
While the reasons for management's reluctance to rebuilding the team is unclear, there are a few factors that may have an impact in its decision making: the biggest being money.
For starters, Nashville isn't as large of a hockey market than others like Toronto, New York and Montreal. That's not to say Nashville isn't a hockey market, but in terms of revenue, it's clear that it's not as profitable. According to 2025 evaluations of everything NHL team's revenue, CNBC found that the Predators had the ninth-least revenue of around $192 million. In the mix with Nashville were St. Louis, Seattle and Calgary, teams of which are in the rebuild/about-to-rebuild dilemma.
Economically, the team can't afford a rebuild. Considering the Bridgestone Arena renovations are estimated to cost around $750 million, 3.9 times the revenue from last year, it's safe to say the team will need as much money as possible. Losing games will in turn decrease attendance, because typically fans want to see their team win. With lower game attendance, the organization, and arena, will see less profit.
Fans have to remember that hockey is a business; it's all about the money. Whether this decision is about money or not, committing to a rebuild while undergoing arena renovations in a smaller market isn't exactly viable.
A retool looks to be the most likely option, and one that has already been hinted in the past by Trotz. Rather than tearing down the entire team, management will most likely decide to ship off pieces one by one when the time comes, reeling in names and admitting AHL talent when the roster allows.
While we won't be winning big time, it'll be enough to keep fans in their seats. However, new management might change this path. There'll always be a chance that we hire a GM that decides the time has come and everyone needs to go. For the time being, a rebuild happening this offseason is extremely unlikely.
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