The expectations and hype surrounding the signing of Steven Stamkos by the Nashville Predators in the offseason of 2024 were enormous, only to end up being mostly a dud as the team stumbled along to nearly their worst finish in franchise history.
One of the top priorities, on a long list of priorities to address this offseason, is how to better utilize Stamkos in the future Hall of Famer's second season in Nashville. Head Coach Andrew Brunette's job should depend on it.
Stamkos saw his point production drop from 81 points in his final season with the Lightning to 53 points in his first year with the Predators. And yet Stamkos still was third on the team in points, which honestly isn't saying a whole lot considering this team's offense fell into the abyss.
Even though the overall expectations couldn't be lower for the Predators going into Stamkos' second year, there still has to be an urge to get more out of the aging superstar. Are we destine for another lackluster year from Stamkos, or even worse, is Stamkos about to really just hit a downward spiral at age 35?
To get at least one more really great season out of Stamkos individually and at least somewhat justify ever bringing him here in the first place, some things obviously need to change. Brunette cannot just roll out the same plan and hope that the first season for Stamkos in Nashville was just a fluke.
Nashville Predators have to commit to Stamkos being either a winger or a center
It should not have come as too much of a shock when Stamkos got off to a slow start in his Predators career. Transitioning from the team he built hit Hall of Fame career with over 16 seasons only to dramatically break up with them for Nashville figured to have a trial and error phase. The problem was it lingered deep into the season, and then by that time the team had already lost hope on the season.
Stamkos had just one goal and one point in his first eight games with the Predators, and the tone already got negative soon after that. To make matters worse, the team was already piling up the losses which put a spotlight on Stamkos' lack of offensive output.
November was slightly better for Stamkos with 10 points and five power play goals, showing a little optimism. Then the lack of team chemistry started showing the negative results, and also the lack of center depth behind Ryan O'Reilly.
We're all aware that Stamkos is better suited at the wing over being at center at this advanced stage in his career. With an effective top-six center, Stamkos can thrive where he's best which is getting one-timers in the high danger areas and teeing off on goalies with his pinpoint accuracy.
If Stamkos doesn't have a really good set-up man playing on his line, it makes it hard for him to keep up with the more elite teams who have more physicality and more speed. Yes, Stamkos shows off some occasional speed bursts that are impressive for being in his mid 30's, but he is best suited getting the set-up passes and blasting shots.
So the first plan is to get Stamkos back on the wing and figure out who his best center will be to play with. Does he play with O'Reilly and move Filip Forsberg with a different center? That makes it complicated because Forsberg is your top line left wing and O'Reilly is almost certainly your top line center because there just aren't any other viable options.
Fedor Svechkov probably will get his shot to play on a rebuilding Predators' second line, and I'm totally on board with trying that first. But not only trying it, but sticking with it even if Svechkov struggles at first. He is part of your long-term future plans at the position, and you have to give him a chance to go through the growing pains. Playing with Stamkos on the wing could be very beneficial for him in the long run.
Most importantly, Brunette cannot start shuffling everything up after a few games and throw Stamkos at center. There has to be a large sample size to see if Svechkov can build chemistry with Stamkos.
A more consistent and confident power play will naturally boost Stamkos' numbers
Another pretty obvious way for Stamkos to get back closer to what he was in Tampa is a well-oiled machine on the power play. The Predators were very inconsistent on the power play, but weren't a complete abomination by any means. They finished 18th in power play percentage, with Stamkos having 14 power play goals.
It's going to sound very simple, but Stamkos has to get a higher volume of shots on the power play. I thought at many times, especially early in the season, that Stamkos differed too many times. He was trying to make the perfect play rather than trusting his Hall of Fame instincts to just fire a puck at the net.
Let's remember that despite all of the Predators' problems on offense, they're still a good team at scoring in the dirty areas. Forsberg and O'Reilly are great at finding loose pucks off rebounds and deflections. So even if the goalie makes the save on a Stamkos laser, there's a good chance someone is going to be in deep to find the loose change and cash in. I didn't see that nearly enough when Stamkos was on the power play last season.
There's a stat that really jumps out the most and explains Stamkos' steep dip on offense in his first year with the Predators, and it's shots on goal. He dropped from 262 SOG in his last season with Tampa to just 174 SOG in his first year with Nashville. That's also in three more games mind you.
I'm inclined to think with Stamkos surely coming into his second year with Nashville being more comfortable in his role that he'll naturally increase his shot totals as well. It doesn't take deep understanding to realize that should mean Stamkos will score more goals and get more assists off of his shots that are saved.
Stamkos has consistently been a 200-plus shots on goal producer when he plays a full season. To drop all the way down to 174 shots with Nashville shows he wasn't utilized properly and also probably differed way too much to his linemates. He's got to be more aggressive in finding his shots in Year 2.
Furthermore, Stamkos actually had a pretty high shooting percentage at over 15 percent, making you wonder even more why he wasn't shooting more? Even if he's past his prime due to his age, his accuracy on his shots haven't changed. Especially in his wheelhouse on the power play.
Although I don't have high confidence that the Predators are going to return back to the playoffs in 2026, I do think we're going to see some individual improvement from a few players, and Stamkos is one of them. He is going to be much more settled in and have a more defined role most likely on the second line.
However, if the Predators once again can't find a quality center to play with Stamkos, I fear he's in for another below average season similar to last year. His days of just taking over games by himself are long past him, and even Lightning fans will argue that Stamkos benefited from playing with elite rosters all those years on the Lightning.
I probably have more optimism than most that Stamkos will bounce back for a commendable second year with Nashville. Nothing earth shattering or All Star caliber, but better than his 53 points last season.