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Four reasons to be worried about Nashville Predators in final stretch after Olympics

It almost feels like we're entering a brand new season with how long the Olympics were, but now the Predators hopefully return feeling refreshed and ready to go.
ByChad Minton|
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Feb 4, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
Feb 4, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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Juuse Saros, Nashville Predators
Jan 31, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74) defends the net in the second period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Juuse Saros doesn't carry over his Olympics success into final stretch run of NHL season

Watching Juuse Saros at the Winter Olympics for Team Finland couldn't help but make the average Predators fan think "Hey, I remember that guy!". Saros was spectacular and carried Finland to a bronze medal, and nearly carried them to a major upset of Team Canada and to the Gold Medal game.

However, that's a far cry from how it's been in the NHL this season for Saros. His numbers have remained slumped with just a .892 save percentage, which is actually worse than last season. He's surrendering a GAA of 3.20 goal per game, which is by far the worst of his career. He's never been above 3.00, not including his one start in 2015-16.

Adding to these really shaky numbers, Saros is really struggling in Goals Saved Above Expected. Among qualified goalies who have played in at least 20 games, Saros is 45th out of 53 in Goals Saved Above Expected Per 60 Minutes, Per MoneyPuck.

Fans are uneasy about Saros right now, and rightfully so considering Saros is only in Year 1 of his eight-year deal he signed. The more Saros stays in this slump, the more fans are going to wonder if he's ever going to go back to old school Saros.

I still think it's too early to aggressively shop Saros, and quite frankly you probably don't have much leverage anyway right now with Saros having such a long deal. You just have to hold on for now and hope Saros pulls himself out of it.

What will keep me up at night is if Saros stays in this slump throughout the rest of the season and we have to go into the offseason with this being one of the top storylines. Regardless of whether or not the Predators find a way into the playoffs, this franchise needs Saros to recover down the stretch and leave us with a positive outlook going into the offseason.

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