Before I really get into it, yes I realize the entire Nashville Predators team need to step up their games, but which three need to the most and can make the biggest impact?
These three players I'm about to list are vital to the Predators making some sort of miraculous turnaround to their season. Right now their playoffs odds are in the gutter and they're in the midst of one of the worst starts to a season in franchise history.
Yes, even worse than the expansion year in 1998-99 and the following years after that. This team loaded with superstar talent is performing at an all-time worse level in franchise history.
What a story it would be if somehow the Predators defied all odds and rallied to make the playoffs. Of course once you get in, who knows what can happen.
To save you some suspense, I'm not including on this list Juuse Saros or Filip Forsberg. Sure, both could be playing even better, but their games have been good enough to where they're not the overwhelming problem that's holding the team back. If anything, they're two of the few bright spot, along with rookie Zachary L'Heureux.
1. Jonathan Marchessault
The first and most obvious choice for me is Jonathan Marchessault. I've been so wrong about what I thought his impact would be for this Predators team. When he was signed in free agency, I was just as exciting about him as I was Steven Stamkos. To say he's been a major letdown is an understatement.
Marchessault just recently scored his first 5-on-5 goal of the 2024-25 campaign. He was the last qualified forward with at least 200-plus minutes to finally score a goal at 5-on-5.
You can visibly see the frustration on Marchessault every game. It's almost like you can read his mind that he's wishing he never left the Vegas Golden Knights. He's gone from a 42-goal scorer last season to being on pace for 15 goals this season.
The Predators have the worst shooting percentage in the NHL at 5.29 percent, with Marchessault performing right at that mark individually at 5.7 percent. His career shooting percentage is 11.4 percent.
So we keep waiting and waiting for the puck luck to turn into a positive direction for the Predators, but it just isn't happening. If Marchessault finds a way to at least start finishing on pucks and increasing his shooting percentage closer to his career average, then at the very least you'll start seeing the Predators climb out of their offensive slump.
2. Tommy Novak
Tommy Novak provided a lot of extra offense for the Predators last season. He potted 17 goals in just 51 games in 2022-23, and followed that up with another 18 goals last season. He has just three goals on the current season and hasn't scored since October 22 in a win over Boston.
The team is desperately trying to find a place for Novak in the lineup. He just missed nearly two weeks due to injury and has since been back for four games. Zero points in those games and very little offensive impact with only seven shots on net.
Depth scoring is a problem just as much as the top of the lineup. Novak was being counted on to take the offensive load off of Forsberg and the top line every night. He is fully capable of being a 50-plus point scorer, but right now he's basically a non-factor on both ends of the ice.
Novak lost his second line center role pretty early in the season, and hasn't been able to take it back. The Predators have scrambled all season long trying to find an answer, which is a contributing factor to why we're not seeing Stamkos and Marchessault light it up. Not to make excuses for these guys, but they haven't had a true second line center to play with either, and that has meant jumbling up the line combinations from game to game.
In the most recent loss to the Devils, Novak lined up as the third line center with Marcessahult and Mark Jankowski. Fedor Svechkov, appearing in his second NHL game, got second line center duties with Stamkos and Juuso Parssinen to start the game.
Let's see how long Svechkov stays up on the NHL level, but if and when he gets sent back down to the Milwaukee Admirals, I would put Novak back at second line center and try the original plan again of Stamkos and Marchessault.
3. Ryan O'Reilly
With all of the fair criticism the Predators are taking right now, Ryan O'Reilly has managed to doge a lot of the crossfire. At least from what I've gathered, but he shouldn't be shielded from the blame. As a top line center, he has just 12 points in 22 games. Similar to Marchessault, you can see the clear frustration that O'Reilly is experiencing currently.
The Predators are a collective case of underperforming veterans. The fact that they're all going through these shocking individual slumps at the same time to open a season is truly perplexing.
It's on thing to see a player or two stuck under a dark cloud, but when it's the entire team, then you start looking towards the Head Coach. That's why Andrew Brunette is on the hot seat and it feels like his days are numbered.
When it comes to O'Reilly, he most certainly has more to give as a top line center. He's on pace for 45 points, which would be 24 fewer than last season. His decrease in power play production is the biggest reason why. Only two power play goals and two power play assists after chipping in for 28 points on the power play last season.
It is clear that the Predators are not a strong team at 5-on-5. Their speed, or lack thereof, gets exposed everytime they play a fast team like just did against the New Jersey Devils. So to survive these types of games they have to absolutely excel and dominate on the power play.
O'Reilly is a key catalyst to the power play. The one that can get the greasy goals while Josi, Stamkos and Forsberg fire away from the point and slot. The Predators need the O'Reilly from last year finding those loose pucks close in on the net and getting those rebound goals.
If Marchessault, Novak and O'Reilly find their offensive games closer to their career averages and levels of just last year, that can go a long way into salvaging this season. I'm not saying that alone will mean a miraculous run to make the playoffs, but it will at least make things much more respectable and interesting down the stretch.
On the other hand, if these three in particular stay way below their career averages, then this ugly ride the Predators are on right now isn't going to end anytime soon.