The obvious bad news is the Nashville Predators will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third time in four years, but there is also plenty of positives that have come from this unpredictable season we have witnessed.
The Predators made it to Game 81 of their season still clinging onto a playoff spot before finally running out of gas. Considering where this team finished last season and where it even was around Thanksgiving, it's rather incredible they hung around as long as they did.
Now the question is where do we go from here as the offseason looms? Despite another playoff absence, we do have more reasons for optimism than we had just a couple months ago
If the Predators win their season finale on Thursday against the Ducks, they'll finish 2025-26 with 88 points, a 20-point improvement over last year with many contributing factors as to why.
Nashville Predators prospect pool and young NHL talent possibly means the rebuild won't take as long as we feared
First reason to be optimistic heading into the offseason is the young talent that mostly all showed promise for the future, most notably Luke Evangelista seizing a top-six role and leaving zero doubt that he's there to stay.
Evangelista exploded from 22 assists to 42 assists and from 32 points to 54 points. His growth in confidence couldn't have been more noticeable, and doing it while facing enormous pressure after the contract holdout through training camp.
Then there's Matthew Wood who not only had one of the better rookie seasons in recent memory for Nashville, but did it while making a difficult position change to center towards the end. His 17 goals should end up being fourth on the team unless Erik Haula has a four-goal game up his sleeve on Thursday.
Wood's fast development suddenly gives the Predators a new option at the center position looking ahead to next season, and that alone provides a lot of optimism for the offseason.
Defensively, Adam Wilsby and Ryan Ufko each got their ample amounts of ice time and have shown they can be relied upon going into 2026-27. Ufko especially filled in effectively on the right side after Nick Blankenburg was traded at the deadline.
Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranks Nashville's prospect pool No.5 in the NHL, using a criteria of looking at each team's top-15 prospects and their upsides.
So the easy choice for top reason to be optimistic about the offseason is seeing more growth from this budding prospect pool and where they end up on the NHL roster later this summer at training camp.
We're probably getting a clean slate in the front office and a major shift from the old school Preds ways
Fans should be ready to throw a parade down Broadway at the thought of getting an external general manager that will finally take this franchise a new direction with a fresh vision. Going from David Poile to Barry Trotz just ended up with the same mediocre results.
The Predators have been in no rush to get the new GM hired, but the list of candidates does seem to be shrinking to a handful. Fans overwhelmingly appear to be anti Tom Fitzgerald because of his past ties to being the franchise's first captain. That part doesn't bother me nearly as much as New Jersey's knack for falling up short of expectations recently.
My pick is Dallas' AGM Scott White, a key figure in making the Stars a Stanley Cup contender every year. A model of consistency while also drafting effectively and making wise additions in free agency and trades.
White would give this franchise the clean slate it has never had since being an expansion team in 1998, and I'm not highly confident that Andrew Brunette would stick around as head coach with an external hire like this. Another reason most fans would be gushing with optimism about the offseason.
The new Predators ownership has to realize it's time for a major shake-up from the old, tired ways that at best ends in first round heartbreak with the exception of just five seasons out of 27. Ouch.
Other GM candidates who can also offer a fresh vision is Edmonton's AGM Bill Scott and Florida's Assistant GM Brett Peterson, among others. Once we move on from Trotz, it will be a collective sigh of relief for most in Smashville.
A major trade and moving on from a veteran contract could boost optimism to get even younger and build more future assets to springboard the rebuild process
There are rumblings that Nashville will look to tear down their roster even further in the offseason by seeking to trade someone like Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault or even a huge figure of the franchise like Roman Josi.
I don't see how Nashville, with a new front office regime coming in, truly embraces a rebuild without making at least one significant trade of a veteran this offseason. If the new GM pulls that off and acquires another young talent while also freeing up more cap space, that will be reason for a lot of optimism.
Everyone should be up for grabs right now, but that also doesn't mean you completely burn it down. I'm talking about one, or maybe two, veteran trades. Marchessault leads my list of offseason trade candidates, but you have to test the waters on O'Reilly and Stamkos as well.
Deep down, most fans are ready to take our medicine if that's what it takes for the next GM to build it from the ground up.
The more the new GM cleanses this organization of old contracts that allows for getting younger and hopefully faster, the more optimistic we're going to feel about getting through this fresh beginning of Preds hockey. Even if that means missing the playoffs for the next couple of years.
I'm extremely optimistic about the next GM starting the process of building a future Stanley Cup contender. They will have 24 draft picks at their disposal over next two years, a highly-rated prospect pool and a lot of cap space to work with.
So I know it still is hurting to miss the playoffs again after coming so close, but rest easy because I do see positive things happening this offseason for the franchise's long-term future.
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