When nearly your entire team decides to have a down here at the same time, you end up where the Nashville Predators are at 30th overall in the NHL standings and drafting fifth overall in the upcoming 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
However, General Manager Barry Trotz isn't ready to give up on this group and rip it all apart. He seems to think that a few minor tweaks can turn things back around in a positive direction quickly.
If Trotz's vision is to come true in 2025-26 and silences the many doubter right now, he'll need virtually improvement from every player on this team. Of course there are exceptions to that with some role players and younger players who played sparingly or actually did play better than expected. Nick Blankenburg jumps to mind, as does Fedor Svechkov.
This isn't an easy exercise to take on considering a large chunk of the team played well below there expectations. However, I've identified four players who I believe have the best chance to show a big boost in their level of play from last season to 2025-26.