The Nashville Predators were lucky to sign one of the greatest goal scorers in the NHL; but what if I told you, it almost never happened?
Barry Trotz took the league by surprise in July 2024 when he signed not one, but two former 40-goal scorers Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to long-term, expensive contracts. While both of these deals didn't necessarily age well at first, one of them eventually did, and that was none other than Stamkos.
The 36-year-old forward scored 42 goals last season for Nashville, tied for the six most in his career. He led the team in scoring and became just the third player in franchise history to record 40 or more goals in a season (Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene).
Stamkos kept fans hooked in the second half of the season when his goal production ramped up. However, a split decision back in 2024 could've drastically changed how the Predators would've ended last season.
Carlos Monarrez, a journalist for the Detroit Free Press, reported the Detroit Red Wings were close to signing Stamkos in free agency in 2024, but hesitation from team CEO and Owner Chris Ilitch closed talks before a contract was signed.
Despite only entering his third season with the Predators, Stamkos has left a huge impact on the organization, increasing power play production and helping with the development of Luke Evangelista. It is hard to imagine what the Predators would be without Stamkos.
People may hate the contract, but they can't hate the impact
In case you didn't see one of our latest 2026-27 Predators player previews, we said that Stamkos was one of the best players for the team last season. He was third on the team in points with 66 in 82 games. He averaged the highest shooting percentage on the team with 20.4, nearly 2% more than the next player (Ryan Ufko, 18.2%).
The Predators saw the most offensive success whenever Stamkos was on the ice. MoneyPuck, a website that tracks advanced analytics, found that the Stamkos-O'Reilly-Evangelista line has the highest expected goals metric with 14.5 and expected goals percentage metric (average of xGoals for and against) with 59.9.
As mentioned previously, Stamkos played a major role in the development of Evangelista. Entering his fourth season in the NHL and under a new contract, Evangelista was looking for a breakout year. A 32-point outing in 68 games last season was impressive, especially considering the crowded, unsuccessful lineup that was laid ahead of him. He was looking to prove himself as more than just a middle-six winger for Nashville; he was ready to become one of its best.
Being paired alongside Stamkos gave him a consistent shooter to feed the puck to. He is a playmaker at his heart, and every good playmaker needs a good shooter. He was able to mirror the mindset of one of the greats, which will come in handy when he learns to work with other talented shooters.
Stamkos may be nearing the end of his NHL career, but his footprint on the Predators organization will not.
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