Nashville Predators lose to Philly and might actually be worse than last season

It was a low bar to beat, but after their most recent loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, the Nashville Predators are on pace to finish with 68 points once again in 2025-26.

No one was predicting a huge comeback campaign for the Predators in 2025-26, but many were at least expecting modest improvement from their 30th place finish in the NHL last season.

With their lackluster 4-1 loss to the Flyers, the Predators have fallen to a record of 4-6-2 and have lost seven of their last nine games. In those nine games, the Predators have managed to score just 20 goals.

The main reason why the Predators are in danger of actually being even worse than last season is their offense is virtually non-existent. They're averaging 2.33 goals per game, which is 31st in the NHL. Last season they also finished 31st in the NHL in goal scoring, but averaged more than whaty they are now at 2.59 per game.

If you want to dive deeper and look at the Goals For Above Expected, the Predators are -10.23, according to MoneyPuck. A similar pathway to last season, where they had a staggering -52.11 Goals For Above Expected. The worst in the NHL by nearly 12 goals to the next worst team, who was still able to overcome because they were the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

So not only are the Predators not even able to get through the neutral zone on a regular basis, but they also can't finish when they do get chances. A common them under Head Coach Andrew Brunette. They play a lot of uneventful cycling that relies too much on lucky bounces and deflections, while not having nearly enough raw skill to make a play. Make a defender miss, or make a perfect pass to set a guy up. It happens very rarely.

There was all of this hope in training camp that this team was ready to turn the page and giving off vibes that last season was just a fluke. Things were going to be different, but right now this just looks like a bad rerun that might have an even worse ending.

The Nashville Predators veterans can't score, and there's no one that seems ready to take the mantle

Once again it's the veterans who aren't showing up nearly enough on the scoresheet and pushing the offense. Filip Forsberg is on pace for just 27 goals, while Jonathan Marchessault is on pace for only 21 goals. Two of your primary leading goals scorers are on pace for 48 goals combined, to put that into perspective.

Then there's Steven Stamkos, the main subject of the ire of Predators fans right now, and deservedly so. He is basically a ghost out there. You have to look really hard to even notice him out there, almost like he's being held hostage and just wants out of Nashville altogether.

Stmakos has one goal, and a lucky one at that, and also just one assist. The Predators appear stuck with him unless they buy him out or retains a lot of salary and stumble upon a GM who is willing to take on Stamkos' remaining $8 million AAV for two more years after this one. Seems unlikely.

This team desperately needs Roman Josi back, who is currently considered week-to-week with an upper body injury.

It's becoming painfully clear just how vital Josi is to pushing the pace. He is the main x-factor to keeping this team from being historically bad on offense. Without him steering the ship, it gets ugly and this team struggles to even exit their own zone, must less actually getting set up to generate sustained offensive pressure.

Is there anyone who can come to the rescue this season?

Well first off, Juuse Saros can't score goals. So cross him off.

So where is the offense going to come from? Some of the youth is going to have to grow up fast. We did see Matthew Wood score his first NHL goal last night against the Flyers, so that is at least a small glimmer of positivity. It was also a really beautiful set-up pass from Michael Bunting.

Even if Wood continues to develop his offense throughout this season, he isn't enough. Luke Evangelista is a player that really has to wake up and start playing with more aggresiveness on offense. He looks indecisive much of the time and doesn't look at all ready to take that next step after having that dramatic contract holdout that went through the entirety of training camp.

Evangelista has managed just one goal on 20 shots. He missed a wide open net against the Flyers that should've been an easy goal for him to bury. If the Predators are going to avoid being the worst offensive team in the NHL, then Evangelista has to be a major factor.

Fedor Svechkov was healthy scratched for two games, but came back into the starting lineup against the Flyers. He has yet to register a point in 10 games, which is a major issue that is kind of going unnoticed but is pretty disheartening if you ask me.

Ozzy Wiesblatt has looked encouraging in his bottom-six role, but he isn't going to give a dramatic bump to the offense, either. You can count on him to provide physicality and hard forechecking, but I don't see him improving this offense much.

At some point you have to get Joakim Kemell back up here. What do you really have to lose at this point? At least this guy has a wicked shot and you're going to need him sooner rather than later. No sense in sheltering him in Milwaukee.

If it were up to me, I'd go ahead and waive Tyson Jost and get Kemell back up here for the long haul.

It will be a little more tricky to get Zachary L'Heuruex back in the starting lineup unless you're ready to bench some veterans.

The reason why things look so grim is you're really counting on the veterans to lead the way for another year while many of the youth need more time before they become consistent contributors on offense.

If these trends continue with the Predators, then it won't be shocking at all if the Predators finish at the very bottom of the NHL when 2025-26 comes to an end. Even the Sharks and the Blackhawks won't be there to save them this time. Maybe the Flames? They're pretty bad too and also can't seem to score.

GM Barry Trotz's power moves in 2024 to pick up Stamkos, Marchessault and Skjei have been an utter disaster. He has managed to screw up on all three. Many applauded the moves at the time, and it makes you wonder if Head Coach Andrew Brunette is the problem. Sadly, it's heading towards a clean house situation if these early trends from the first 12 games are any indication if what we're in store for in the remaining 70 games.

Some will say it's still too early to be overreacting this way, and I would push back and say that only works when you have a team that has great personell but is just underperforming. There's nothig fluky about this. This team just isn't that good, and to add fuel to the fire, they're not coached well, either.

If they prove me wrong, then I'll be the first to admit it. They're already kind of proving me wrong, just in the opposite way. I figured they'd at least be a little better. Like modest improvement to 80 to 90-point range.

Bottom line, if you're not getting consistent offense from Forsberg, Marchessault, Stamkos and Evangelista then forget about it. Juuse Saros will put the lipstick on the pig for us occasionally, but we all know what's underneath and let's just say it's not winning any beauty pageants.