Nashville Predators training camp doesn't officially begin until Sept. 17, but Luke Evangelista's potential absence is already looming large. The restricted free agent (RFA) forward has yet to put pen to paper on a new contract with Nashville, and his unsigned status threatens to disrupt both chemistry and evaluation during one of the most critical periods of the Predators' rebuild.
General manager Barry Trotz has frequently described Evangelista as a future cornerstone of Nashville's next competitive window and made it clear at the end of last season that getting him re-signed was a top priority. The Predators' original qualifying offer to Evangelista expired on July 15. While negotiations have presumably been ongoing since then, there is still no agreement with only a week to go until camp.
For a signing that felt like a foregone conclusion when both Evangelista and Trotz spoke to the media at the end of the 2024-25 season, it's starting to look like less of a sure thing with each passing day – and it's casting a shadow over training camp before it's even begun.
Luke Evangelista’s contract standoff is casting a shadow over Predators camp
The impasse appears primarily over contract length. With the NHL's salary cap set to increase incrementally over the next few seasons, Evangelista's camp likely favors a shorter bridge deal– perhaps one or two years – while the team is probably pushing for longer-term security. That misalignment, combined with the timing, is escalating the tension.
Evangelista has emerged as a legitimate top-six forward candidate for Nashville, and his potential absence from training camp could severely limit the coaching staff’s ability to build or test line combinations effectively. Without him, offensive schemes that rely on his scoring instincts and playmaking can’t be practiced live, and the staff's evaluation of other forwards – especially prospects like Matthew Wood or Brady Martin – becomes skewed.
If Evangelista is absent from camp, expect serious complications. Coaches will scramble to fill voids in the top six with less prepared prospects – or worse, with more veterans who are not part of the team's future, further delaying the inevitable rebuild. Rumors will continue to swirl about Nashville trading Evangelista if a deal isn't reached soon.
All of it will be a headache for team cohesion, especially coming off of an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 campaign where on-ice chemistry appeared to be one of the Predators' greatest shortcomings.
Exploring Luke Evangelista's contract dispute with past Predators RFA holdout context
While Nashville hasn’t had many high-profile RFA holdouts, one notable case stands out. In 2014, defenseman Ryan Ellis was unsigned heading into training camp and even spent time skating with his junior team, the Windsor Spitfires, to stay in shape. He ended up signing a five-year, $12.5 million deal on Sept. 26 of that year, missing significant training camp time but eventually coming on board.
Three years earlier, Shea Weber did not reach agreement before camp but was instead sent through arbitration – a rare step for Nashville at that time – resulting in a one-year, $7.5 million contract decided by arbitrator in early August.
In both cases, Nashville either absorbed the delay (Ellis) or leveraged formal mechanisms like arbitration (Weber). Evangelista’s scenario is turning into a similar high-stakes waiting game – though the team was reluctant to go down the arbitration path, and time is slipping fast.
Regardless of how it shakes out, the timing of Evangelista's contract standoff could not be worse. With training camp mere days away, the holdout threatens to derail Nashville’s lineup continuity and preseason planning, not to mention a wider rebuild narrative.
Whether the Predators decide to absorb the delay or escalate to trading Evangelista remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure – this needs resolution, and fast.