Just 15 games remaining to what will go down as the biggest failure of a season in Nashville Predators history. There's nothing they can do to save them from that fact short of a 15-game winning streak to close out.
Even if that were to happen, I'm still not sure it would change the indictment of this franchise. All that would do is lower their odds at a top-5 draft pick, and no one wants to see that.
Now to be fair, you can no longer call this team underperformers based on what they now have on paper. It's a rag tag roster thrown together now, and that's not meant to be disrespectful to the current players in the starting lineup, but it's just the way it is.
Only 10 players remain, including the injured Roman Josi and Jeremy Lauzon, from the opening night starting lineup. Adam Vingan of 102.5 The Game laid this out there on trade deadline day two weeks ago, and since the trade deadline the Predators have gone 2-2-1 with wins over the Blackhawks and Sharks.
updated pic.twitter.com/jMWQuasZKQ
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) March 7, 2025
Josi hasn't played in nearly a month and is currently on injured reserve. I can't imagine him playing another game this season if he's medically cleared to do so.
So with that in mind, we're well past the stage of codemning this team for underperforming. They are who they are now. A team lacking offensive talent and team cohesion, with an emphasis on cohesion because there is none. This team makes the fundamental task of entering the neutral zone look like a tall order to accomplish, or even just making the simplest of passes.
Zero team chemistry with the Nashville Predators with 15 games left
The Predators have scored two goals during their current three-game losing streak, and I expect this theme to continue throughout the rest of the regular season. They'll win a few more games thanks to quite frankly a defense that is playing rather inspired, so if we're looking for one shred of positivity, then you can start there.
The worst finish in the standings in Predators franchise history was 63 points during their inaugural season in 1998-99. This is excluding the lockout and pandemic shortened seasons. Currently sitting at 58 points, it looks like the Predators will sneak past the 1998-99 squad. Surely they can find six points in the standings in 15 games.
If we're going by points percentage in the standings, this current Predators team is narrowly ahead of a few of the worst teams from 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-2002 and 2012-2013.
As for the NHL lottery odds, it looks like the Predators at the worst will finish as the third-worst team in the standings. They're nine points ahead of the Blackhawks and 13 points ahead of the Sharks. But the lottery is unpredictable, but as of now according to Tankathon, the Predators have an 11.5 percent chance to land the top overall pick.
The biggest concern with this team right now isn't that they're taking losses to vastly superior teams. It's the body language and the vibes. They actually took the Kings to overtime and lost 1-0 while also taking a narrow one-goal loss to the Ducks during this three-game losing streak. So they're not getting ran out of the building by any means, but clearly this team is running on fumes on offense.
If there's one simple thing we should want to see from this team in the last 15 games, it should be playing for pride. Going down swinging and spoiling some teams' playoff runs. They get two more games against the Blues who are in the midst of a playoff hunt, so stealing a game from them would be noteworthy.
A rocky offseason ahead, but one change has to happen regardless
I've been in the camp for a while now that Head Coach Andrew Brunette should be relieved of his duties when the offseason gets here. There's nothing that will change that from my perspective, but perhaps General Manager Barry Trotz is waiting to see how Brunette holds the locker room together in these last 15 games.
The optics aren't great right now, and it doesn't help matters that former players continue to thrive once they get out of Nashville, Just see the latest example of Mark Jankowski now with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Get through these 15 games with a little pride and momentum for the offseason, and then give Brunette the pink slip and wish him well in the offseason. Then you can do a thorough head coaching search, tackle free agency and see how 2025-26 looks with the fans at least getting some personal accountability from the front office.
It will make for an interesting offseason, nonetheless. Trotz can't really take an axe to it because many of these guys are signed for multiple years. He has a couple unrestricted free agents to decide if he wants them back, like forwards Jakub Vrana and Kiefer Bellows.
Luke Evangelista will be an RFA, and the thought is he'll be re-signed, although his recent play is very discouraging. You bring him back for a prove-it year in 2025-26.
Regardless, they cannot just trot out this same formula in 2025-26. Fans will boycott and Bridgestone Arena will just become a neutral site for opposing fans. Start with firing Brunette and you'll start to get some forgiveness from fans. Until then, it's going to remain ugly.