The Nashville Predators had a litany of issues during the 2024-25 season, so many that surely, not all of them will be resolved in 2025-26. There are a few things, however, that we can expect to go better for the team, and one of them is getting better years from the star players on the team.
Take the headliners of the Predators core -- Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O'Reilly, Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, and Juuse Saros. We can safely say that each one of those guys had a down year in 2024-25.
Everybody knows that from year to year, things greatly change from player to player and team to team, so surely we can expect that at least a few of those guys will rebound in 2025-26. But when we talk about the degree to which those bounce backs are likely to happen, that is where fans should temper their expectations.
Expect better years, but not complete takeovers by Nashville Predators stars in 2025-26
One of the main things that plagued the Predators in 2024-25 was poor shooting percentages and general inability to finish chances, especially among the forwards. Forsberg was in that boat, shooting at 11%, and that is one of the reasons why I am confident that if nobody else, he can have a full turnaround in 2025-26.
Forsberg did not average a point per game, but his underlying offensive numbers were still elite. Even when he endured an 18-game goalless skid, he still averaged nearly an assist per game, showing that he is still a huge offensive threat, and guys like him are unlikely to stack multiple down years.
Marchessault was also a victim of a poor shooting percentage at 10.2, and of the players acquired in the Predators spending spree last July, he was the one who was reasonably worth his contract. That being said, Barry Trotz signed him to be a legit game changer, and it is likely that those days are behind him.
Even if his shooting percentage goes back up, what will be harder to overcome is that his overall underlying numbers fell off a cliff last year. His lack of speed was also impossible to look over, which is something that will not get better as he ages, and will hamper his ability to be an offensive threat moving forward.
Stamkos and O'Reilly are the two forwards I am concerned truly might not get back to producing like we have known them to. Unlike the other guys, Stamkos' finishing numbers really did not change relative to the past few years, and his recent struggles at even strength show no signs of improving.
O'Reilly's underlying finishing numbers dropped off worse than his raw shooting percentage would indicate, but even then, he has never made a difference as a pure scorer. He is too old and slow at this point to be relied on as a true top line center, and who knows if the guys around him will be good enough to take advantage of his distributions.
In most years, there would be much more confidence in Josi's ability to bounce back, but between age, concussion history, and his recent medical diagnosis, he is far from a sure thing. He could definitely come back and be elite, but if we are being honest with ourselves, he has probably peaked at this point in his career.
Skjei was the one signing last year people were most scared of, yet his 2024-25 season went worse than anyone could have imagined. His base stats and underlying numbers were way worse than in years past, and there were many times last year where he just looked flat out lost.
Now, his age of 31 means he still could have some good years in front of him, and defense is one of those things that is known to take awhile to adjust to in Andrew Brunette's system. He definitely could rebound, but anyone who says they are confident in that is lying to you.
If there is one guy to be most nervous about in this context, it is Saros, mainly because he was signed to be the goaltender of the future, and his contract extension kicks in this year. The Predators need him to bounce back badly, and with his resume, everyone knows he is super talented.
He still had several strong showings last year despite terrible defense in front of him, but overall, was unable to overcome the disaster on the back end. As difficult as it might be, the Predators need Saros to do a better job of picking up the slack when the situation around him is poor, and there is no guarantee that happens since it still looks rough.
Based on pure probabilities, it is unlikely that Forsberg is the only one to have a true bounce back season in 2025-26, but you can see why there is doubt around the rest of the guys. It would take every little thing going right for every star to rediscover their best form, and as is the case with most everything, the truth will likely be in the middle of that and pure disaster.