#5: Ryan O'Reilly
"The Factor" is going to be an x-factor again in 2025-26. O'Reilly was the most candid about the team's failures and he often put the blame on himself. Very admirable and it's what true leaders do. I'm happy to have him back, even though I thought he should've been traded at the deadline.
But if we're optimistic about the Predators flipping the script in 2025-26, then O'Reilly has to repeat what he did in his first year with the Predators when he put up 69 points and 14 power play goals. His point output was the second-highest of his NHL career, but he dropped to just 53 points this past season.
The hard truth to come to grips with is that O'Reilly isn't a true first line center anymore, and at best he's a second line center. Unless some seismic trade happens that doesn't seem likely at all, the Predators will send O'Reilly out once again to be one of the top-six centers. They have no one else ready to take that role, and sticking with Steven Stamkos at the top line and moving O'Reilly to a 2C role looks like the most plausible way to address the center position.
However, the downside to this approach is this keeps Fedor Svechkov out of the top-six as a center. So in other words, the Predators need to figure out this offseason how they want to address this position. If they take Michael Misa or James Hagens in the upcoming draft, it could be their franchise center they've always been longing for.
In the short term though, O'Reilly is still your guy. Let's hope he can cling onto the fountain of youth for at least one more year.