Three Nashville Predators Storylines to Watch for the upcoming season

For diehard hockey fans, the off-season can be long and dreary. When the season’s final buzzer sounds, many count down the days until the puck drops again.

Fortunately for Predators fans, they were spared an uneventful summer. General Manager Barry Trotz made several splashy moves as soon as free agency opened. Most recently, the team was the talk of the hockey world when former first-round pick Yaroslav Askarov was traded to the San Jose Sharks.

Now September is right around the corner. Cooler weather is fast approaching, and training camps will be starting soon. We’re close to a new season getting underway, so it seems like a perfect time to discuss and examine three storylines that fans should pay close attention to.

Will Tommy Novak take the next step and become a true top-six forward?

Novak, 27, seemingly came out of nowhere a few seasons ago. The former Minnesota Golden Gopher was quietly impressing in the AHL and soon got his shot with the Predators. His transition from the minors to the big league was seamless, a credit to the system in Milwaukee.

Novak has improved year after year since arriving in Nashville. Arguably, last year would’ve been his best season had he not suffered an upper-body injury that sidelined him for several weeks. He started the year at a scorching pace, totaling 12 points in the first 14 games. Before his injury, he was the team’s second-highest scorer, behind only Filip Forsberg.

Like many players who miss significant time, Novak’s return was difficult. Re-entering the lineup mid-season can probably feel like trying to catch a moving train. So, it was no surprise that it took Novak some time to find his game again. He registered just three points in his first 10 games back, and it wasn’t until his 17th game since returning that he found the back of the net.

With all things being equal, and hopefully an injury-free season, this could be Novak’s finest campaign. The Predators’ recent summer additions will certainly play a large part in Novak’s success.

Trotz signed game-changing talent in July, inking Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to multi-year deals. Early projections have Stamkos and Marchessault playing on the second line, with Novak centering the two newbies. It makes sense, considering the immense success Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, and Gustav Nyquist had on the top line last year. It would be foolish to break them up.

So, Novak, who has a high-caliber shot himself, will be able to dish the puck to a player who rarely passes up an opportunity to shoot and is incredibly dangerous when he does. On the other side could be Marchessault, who notched 69 points last season.

Now is Novak’s time to show he is no longer a fringe player but rather a true second-line center on whom the Predators can depend. The Predators have historically struggled at the center position, and Novak could be the answer to the depth they need.

It’s now or never for Philip Tomasino in Nashville

Tomasino was a player every junior team wanted. During his OHL career, the Oshawa Generals traded nine draft picks to the Niagara IceDogs to acquire the then-18-year-old. The Predators drafted the Mississauga native in the first round back in 2019, and based on the numbers he registered in the OHL, the hype was palpable.

However, even though Tomasino is only 23-years-old, it seems like it’s now or never for him to establish himself as a full-time Nashville Predator. He debuted for the Predators in 2021 and played 76 games that year. He held his own as a rookie, recording 11 goals and 21 assists.

Since then, Tomasino has bounced between the Predators and Admirals. When things are going well for Tomasino, he’s great and looks to have a promising future with the Predators. But it’s the consistency that he struggles with. When he’s off his game, he can look lost on the ice.

Starting this season, Tomasino will be eligible for waivers. Nashville will no longer have the luxury of moving the forward freely between the Predators and Admirals. If the coaching staff feels more development is required, they may need to make a difficult decision. It’s hard to see the Predators making the same mistake they did with Eeli Tolvanen, losing him for nothing due to a waiver claim.

There’s no doubt that Tomasino can play in the NHL; his skill set has proven that. But the question is: how patient are the Predators? If the right offer is presented, it wouldn’t be surprising if Trotz pulls the trigger and ends the youngster’s Nashville journey.

Could this be the best offense the Predators have ever had?

This may seem like an overreaction segment. It might be bold to say, but the Predators have a coach who prefers playing offense more than the current GM did when he was behind the Predators’ bench for more than a decade. They also have perhaps the best forward they’ve ever had in Forsberg, and they’ve added two top-end scorers with Stamkos and Marchessault.

Forsberg is coming off his most productive season ever. He notched 48 goals and 94 points. He has tallied 40-plus goals in two of the past three seasons. He failed to hit the mark in 2022-23, but he only played 50 games due to injury. So, you can count on him to put up monster numbers.

Last season, the Predators tied their franchise record for most regular-season goals with 266. Their top five goal scorers from last year are all returning, and – as the common theme throughout – they’ve added two more scoring pieces. Stamkos (40 goals) and Marchessault (42 goals) were both in the NHL’s top 20 last season.

Hitting the 40-goal mark is a hard feat to accomplish. But for a team that went so long without ever experiencing a 40-goal scorer, they have a legitimate chance of seeing three players surpass that number in the same season.

The 2006-07 roster sits atop the list along with last season’s squad as the most potent Predators’ offense. However, they did their damage by committee. Both Jason Arnott and David Legwand led the team with 27 goals. That year saw six Predators hit the back of the net 20 times or more. Only four players did that for Nashville last year. So, it will be no small task for the 2024-25 team to contend for the title of the Predators’ best offense, but it can be done. Setting the bar high wouldn’t be unfair, especially considering the expectations that this team has. To think that the upcoming season could feature the most productive Predators’ offense we’ve ever seen wouldn’t be an overreaction.

The Predators have not seen the second round of the playoffs since 2018. It has been one of the main arguments for why they should rebuild. But the franchise chose a different path. They shipped away veteran pieces at the deadline during the 2022-23 season but retooled the following summer.

There are always smaller storylines that play out during an 82-game season. But the biggest story we could see is the Predators returning to relevance and the talk of rebuilding feeling like a distant memory.