Now 29 games into their 2025-26 campaign, the Nashville Predators are doing everything they can to stay out of dead last while simultaneously hanging around the wildcard bubble in a cluttered Western Conference.
The Predators are perhaps coming off their most impressive win of the season on Tuesday night by dismantling the historically great Colorado Avalanche by a 3-2 final score thanks to the shootout winner from Ryan O'Reilly.
The win, which is Nashville's 11th of the season, moves them temporarily out of last place in the entire NHL, giving that hat of shame to the Vancouver Canucks for now. As of Wednesday, the Predators join the Canucks, Blues and Kraken for the lowest win total in the NHL with 11.
What is ironic about this is GM Barry Trotz is rumored to be gearing up for a huge selling off of assets and expiring contracts, including some household names like Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. But now he has to possibly second-guess himself with the wildcard bubble just five point away.
A turning point happened after the 8-3 loss to Florida on November 25th, and the Nashville Predators have responded in commendable fashion since then
Just a couple weeks ago leading up to their embarassing 8-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, Trotz stated that the next "seven or eight games" will determine his thoughts on a potential fire sale before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, which isn't until March 6, nearly three months away still.
Since that was shared by Trotz, the Predators have gotten revenge on the Panthers by beating them 2-1 in overtime, and reeling off five wins in their next seven games. So we're right around that seven to eight-game windown that Trotz mentioned from a November 25 story from ESPN's Greg Wyshinski.
Through 29 games last season, the Predators were 7-16-6 for 20 points. This year, they're 11-14-4 with 26 points. Slightly better, but not enough to have fans excited even in the slightest. They want the sell-off, and they want to be selecting in the top-5 again. At least the majority of them want that it appears. So for that group, buckle up because if the Predators keep finding ways to scratch their way to some wins over quality opponents, then Trotz is going to have a difficult decision to make.
As long as the Predators give Trotz a glimmer of hope of saving the season, I can't see him parting ways with most of his veterans unless teams are willing to overpay. I feel that way certainly about O'Reilly, but even Stamkos and Marchessault. He'll see those players as needed to keep alive in the playoff hunt.
Don't kill the messenger, but that's just what I expect from Trotz if the Predators keeping hanging around in what I consider a logjam of below average teams. The West just looks really top heavy to me.
You are also seeing a lot of encouraging signs from the young core of players. They're making their impacts known and playing vital roles in the team playing much better as of late. Just look at Reid Schaefer already with two goals and playing his physical brand of hockey just six games into his NHL career.
Matthew Wood has been a major bright spot all season, and Fedor Svechkov is even beginning to come around after a horrendous dry spell to start.
I would also include Luke Evangelista in this conversation with 16 assists and up against a lot of pressure after holding out through training camp for a new contract. I would still prefer to see his goal scoring increase, but I'll live with the high assist production for now.
The Predators get the St. Louis Blues next. A beatable, mediocre opponent that if the Predators replicate their defensive masterclass that they showed against the wagon that is the Avalanche, then they should be able to get another win. Of course with the caveat that the Predators still haven't proven to me that they can be consistent, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they put out a dud against the Blues.
The point is, the Predators are still far too close to the wildcard bubble for Trotz to probably blow it all up just yet. Many fans probably want that regardless of how close the wildcard is, but I just don't expect Trotz to think that way.