The common theme around the Nashville Predators is "they're open for business", meaning a huge sell-off of expiring contracts are about to be unloaded, and maybe even some core veterans with long-term contracts.
The Predators are 20 games into their 2025-26 campaign and sitting at 16 points. That puts them last in the Central Division and 31st overall in the NHL standings. Last season, a season with a 68-point finish, the Predators had a record of 6-11-3 through 20 games. So just a one point difference, but the same amount of actual losses.
The most alarming result after 20 games isn't that the Predators are clearly not returning to the playoffs in 2026. We all pretty much expected that, but the fact that this team hasn't improved even slightly and may even be worse than last season is truly concerning and has Head Coach Andrew Brunette's seat at maximum heat.
Despite all of this failure and lack of progress, GM Barry Trotz joined 102.5 The Game in Nashville recently during Nashville's five-day break post-Global Series and didn't really ring any alarm bells and even went off to open the inverview with this ringing edorsement for the coaches:
""Well, very simply, I believe our coaches have done a really good job. The record may not show it, but they are coaching their butts off"."Barry Trotz to 102.5 The Game
Trotz went on to finish that quote saying it's "the easy thing to do" and it's a "shared responsility". So Predators fans, at least for now, buckle up and get used to Brunette remaining your head coach.
Disturbing Trends for Nashville Predators at 20-Game Mark
Quarter Mark Stats & NHL Ranks: Goals Per Game (2.40, 31st). Power Play (16.1, 26th). Penalty Kill (81.4, 14th). Shots Per Game (27.0, 22nd). Goal Differential (-21, 31st).
Quarter Mark Team Leaders: Goals (Forsberg, 8). Asssists ( Evangelista, 8). Points (Forsberg, 15). PIM ( Haula, 18). Hits (McCarron, 52). Shooting % (Wood, 20%)
Of Nashville's 14 totals losses, including overtime, eight of them have come when allowing the opponent to score first. Two regulation losses came when Nashville scored first, and two overtime losses came when Nashville scored first.
Despite such a bad offensive start, it's not that lopsided in terms of scoring first in games. The opponent has scored first in 12 of Nashville's first 20 games. In eight games, Nashville has scored first and resulted in four of their six wins. Two wins have come via the comeback, including in Game 1 of the Global Series on a late regulation tying goal from Filip Forsberg, and a game-winner in overtime from Steven Stamkos.
The worst trend that the Predators have going for them right now is offensive output. They're a -21 goal differential, which is nearly the worst in the NHL. Only the St. Louis Blues, just two points ahead of the Predators in the standings, have a worse goal differential.
The offense has gotten even worse than it already was last season. The Predators have slumped down to a meager 2.40 goals per game, also good for 31st in the NHL. They were 31st last season as well, but averaged slightly more offense with 2.59 goals per game.
Let's look at Expected Goals and see if they're getting the chances, but just not finishing. According to MoneyPuck, you see Nashville move up to 19th in Expected Goals For Per 60. They sit at 2.51 Expected Goals Per 60. Still not great, but over a goal higher than their actual Goals Per 60 of 1.83, which again is 31st in the NHL.
So what I gather from this is numerous bad trends that confirm that the Predators are just a mess on offense. They can't score, and they're not even really putting up too many great scoring chances anyway. It would be one thing to say "bad luck", like Trotz puts it, if this team was getting a ton of scoring chances and not getting the bounces.
Sorry, but I think they are who their record says they were, and that's a bad and disconnected hockey team.
That gets me to my next alarming trend for the Predators, and that's very little cohesion between the players on the ice. The passing is absolutely atrocious in most games and no one ever seems to be on the same page. You see a lot of players trying to do too much, or doing the exact opposite and playing with very little intensity.
This is all a ripple effect of the lack of talent at the center position. You have Ryan O'Reilly out there giving everything he has, but let's face it. He can't save this team by his lonesome self, and unfortunately there's no one else to save this team up the middle.
Fedor Svechkov probably stands to benefit heading back to Milwaukee for a month or so, and the team really wants to resist the urge of putting Steven Stamkos at center. Erik Haula is a third line center at best, and certainly not going to solve your offensive woes at center. Then you have Michael McCarron, who again is a bottom-six grinder who isn't going to bring you much offense. And there's no help available that's ready down in Milwaukee.
Trotz's recent interview on 102.5 The Game suggests he's standing by Brunette and trusting the process
The Predators are stuck here, and it's hard to put all of the blame on Brunette if this is the talent he has to work with up the middle. That falls on Trotz not building a proper roster, but instead all I got from that 102.5 The Game interview on Thursday is excuse making and a lack of accountability.
I would be on Trotz's side on these comments if I saw encouraging growth from the young talent, but aside from Matthew Wood, I don't see much. There is some positive flashes from Spencer Stastney and Adam Wilsby, but in terms of impact offensive players showing growth, I don't see it.
Luke Evangelista, after a training camp holdout before finally signing a short two-year deal, has just two goals in 19 games. He has eight assists as well, but he needs to be showing us 50-plus points and a lot more goal scoring impact. His shooting percentage sits at a 5.3, so this is one player in particular that I'm looking to see if his goal scoring increases in the reminder of this season.
I don't see a lot of instant fixes for this offense. I would start with Evangelista upping that shooting percentage to get better luck finding the back of the net, and also I'm eager to see how Roman Josi's return to the ice jolts this offense awake. His transition game should improve the zone exits and increase the amount of offensize zone time, and also boost the power play.
If we're cutting this season into quarters and we're heading into the second quarter, then the Predators need the next 20 games to just show a lot more progress in playing as a connected unit. With Trotz confirming that Brunette's job is safe for now, the team needs to rally around that by playing much better to prove that Brunette is taking them in the right direction. It's really hard to see that right now.
Looking at the next five games for the Predators following a rare early season break of five days, they get the unstoppable Colorado Avalanche and back-to-back champion Florida Panthers at home. I'm assuming the home crowd is going to be less than thrilled, but pulling off an upset of one of these two teams would at least prove to me this team is still fighting to salvage the season.
A lot of trades and roster unloading is probably about to happen in the coming weeks leading into December. Some reports have suggested that the Predators want to actively get started with trading soon. You're seeing some major names be tossed around like Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Juuse Saros, Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly. Some of that is pure speculation, but others are likely trade block candidates. I put O'Reilly at the top of that list and his days might be coming to an early end with Nashville.
The quarter mark check-in doesn't paint a rosey picture for the Nashville Predators. They're buried in deep, but Trotz insists that he's staying the course with Brunette. Usually NHL front offices can't fire failing coaches fast enough, but Trotz is willing to wait this out.
How many empty seats in Bridgestone Arena is it going to take for Trotz is step into reality on how dire this situation is right now?