Time isn't on our side when it comes to the Nashville Predators cashing in from their 2024 free agency haul of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei because of that whole aging thing.
Stamkos is 35 and looking to bounce back from his worst offensive season going all the way back to his rookie year in 2008-09. Marchessault will hit age 35 midway through next season and saw a 50 percent drop-off in his goal scoring in his first year with Nashville.
And then there's Skjei who just turned 31 and had a hard time finding his place in the Predators defensive corps and live up to being a seven-year, $7 million per year player. He did just achieve a significant team achievement by winning the world championship for Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championship on Sunday.
Everyone has already given up on these three veteran free agents after just one year with Nashville Predators
What's odd to me is that everyone has seemed to already jump ship on these free agents panning out in Nashville, and I just don't agree with that doomsday kind of thinking. Sure, the first year was disastrous in many ways and didn't bear the fruits that anyone expected, leading the Predators to 30th in the overall NHL standings.
Other than another year of the aging process, I don't see a reason to automatically assume that this trio is going to be horrible again in their second years with the Nashville Predators. A big x-factor in this will be finding the right line combinations and also tweaking some things in how this team operates on the ice. That's the task of the coaching staff led by Head Coach Andrew Brunette, whose stock couldn't be any lower among the fanbase.
Brunette has to be willing to be some tweaks himself in his coaching philosophies. He's still a very young NHL head coach and has to be willing to adapt. With one year of growing pains with a lot of new veterans coming in, they have something to build on now. They have the really bad taste in their mouths and no one wants to experience that nightmare again.
Is Stamkos going to play center or wing to open 2025-26? There were encouraging results when Stamkos played center, even though at this stage in his career it's obvious that he's better at the wing. The problem is, the Predators are so thin at center that Stamkos might be forced into that role again midseason, which will only disrupt the chemistry again.
If the young Fedor Svechkov can thrive at the second line center role, a big if, then that will give Stamkos much more comfort playing at the wing. The original plan was for Tommy Novak to play that role, and that ended horribly.
Marchessault trade rumors can still mean "cashing in" from 2024 free agency
Jonathan Marchessault is in trade rumors and possibly wants out of Nashville. That could wreck this whole idea of "running it back" unless there's a x-factor player in return, which seems highly unlikely. Seems more like a high draft pick or prospect type of a trade.
If the Predators front office is ready to move on from the Marchessault one-year experiment, then they have to make sure they get something of decent benefit in return to set up the long-term future pipeline.
The only way you cash in on the original acquisition of Marchessault in 2024 is if you trade him for an up and coming offensive prospect that can benefit you greatly in a couple years. Most notably, a center prospect which the Nashville pipeline currently lacks.
If Marchessault does end up being traded, that throws a monkey wrench into next season's immediate plans which I'm not convinced Trotz is prepared to do. I could be reading the situation wrong, but my inclination is that Trotz wants one more year with this collective group, including these three free agents from 2024 offseason, to prove that Trotz knew what he was doing in the long run.
Back to Stamkos at center. He played 304 minutes as the center with Forsberg and Marchessault on the wings and they mustered up 2.76 Expected Goals Per 60 minutes. Very underwhelming for that collection of offensive weapons on the same line. Perhaps they can build more chemistry together with one year together already to build off of.
The Predators just really have to show progress next season. Show the fanbase they're moving back in the right direction, and I do think as a glass half full kind of guy that Stamkos, Marchessault and even Skjei can be part of the long-term solution in Year 2 with the organization.
If Marchessault sticks around with Nashville, I can see him taking the biggest jump and making the biggest impact out of the three free agents from the 2024 offseason. His goal scoring has to increase considerably for that to happen, and the Predators have to figure out who the top line center is going to be, which it appears they have no other choice but to stick with 34-year-old Ryan O'Reilly.
Flipping Marchessault for a really good prospect and mid to high end draft pick will be enough to cash in on that original free agency acquisition because you're freeing up $5.5 million in additional cap space as well. No way I'm retaining any salary on Marchessault. Otherwise just keep him.
To wrap this thought process up on what these three can do in Year 2 with Nashville, Stamkos is going to take on the mentor role and should settle down more after coming off the high emotions of being traded away shockingly from Tampa Bay. Skjei is signed for six more years and is virtually unmovable, so the Predators have to hope he gets much better on both ends of the ice.
I'm not ready to just completely burn this all down, but Marchessault being traded does offer you a chance to rectify one of the acquisitions by getting younger and faster.