The holiday break came at an inopportune time for the Nashville Predators as they were riding some rare momentum with back-to-back wins over two quality opponents, the Los Angeles Kings and Carolina Hurricanes.
The Predators, who sit 29th overall in the NHL standings with 29 points, are hoping their short streak of momentum carries over. They have zero margin for error the rest of the way if they want to replicate some miraculous run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, similar to what the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues pulled off.
As a perfect set-up, the Predators' first opponent after the three-day break over Christmas is the Blues. A team hanging around the middle of the pack in the Central Division, but certainly a beatable opponent for the Predators.
Here's what we need to see out of the work-in-progress Nashville Predators as 2025 is almost here.
Improved Offense and More Line Chemistry
Perhaps the most shocking stat plaguing the Nashville Predators is their lack of scoring goals. They are dead last in the NHL in goals per game at 2.40. This of course after revamping their offensive attack through 2024 free agency and getting a career-high scoring season from Filip Forsberg in 2023-24.
Forsberg is on an unprecedented goal drought. Only nine goals for the entire season, and currently on a 13-game goal drought. Imagine if Forsberg was scoring closer to his career average? You can imagine the Predators would be much further up in the standings.
Now this isn't to say that all of the problems the Predators are facing is due to Forsberg. He is making positive things happen in other areas, but no doubt the Predators badly need his scoring to ramp up as the calendar flips to 2025.
There was basically zero line chemistry for the first couple of months of the season, but finally it appears the Predators have found their top line, sort of by accident. Steven Stamkos took over as top line center while Ryan O'Reilly was temporarily sidelined with an injury.
Stamkos is centering the top line with Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault. Marchessault is surging on offense right now and leads the team in goals with 12, and you're hoping it's catagious for Forsberg.
If you're looking for a reason why the Predators will have a much better second half of the season, a major factor to look at is the Predators will continue to build their line chemistry and start scoring three-plus goals regularly so that it isn't all on Juuse Saros to play elite every night.
More valuable experience for the youth
Even if the playoffs aren't in the future for 2025, the Predators really need to see the youth of their roster continue to trend up. Zachary L'Heureux is leading the way in this area. He hasn't looked back since making his NHL debut on October 22.
L'Heureux is up to nine points in 30 games on the season, and is getting extensive work even on special teams. I can't imagine a scenario where L'Heureux gets sent back down to the Milwaukee Admirals this season.
On the defensive side, the same can be said about Adam Wilsby. He plays with a high confidence level that is rare for such an inexperienced defenseman. He is only 13 games into his NHL career and is logging heavy ice time at just under 19 minutes per game.
Much like L'Heureux, I can't fathom a reason to send Wilsby back to Milwaukee this season. Especially with Alexandre Carrier and Dante Fabbro both departed to other teams.
Other young players who should keep getting valuable playing time and NHL development is Nick Blankenburg, Luke Evangelista and Tommy Novak. Yes, Evangelista and Novak have been around for a little bit now, but still need to keep showing gradual improvement.
It hasn't exactly been a smooth road for Novak this season in particular, failing to hold down the crucial second line center role that he started with at the beginning of the season. He looks more comfortable in a third line role with Evangelista on his line.
Make a run and see where the chips fall
I will never be a believer in tanking for a better draft pick. Sure, it would be nice to see the Predators get a top-10 pick and a chance at an impact player. However, I'm still a firm believer in playing to win every game and see what happens.
The Predators need to be building positive mojo going into the offseason at the very least. They're going to almost certainly fail to make the playoffs unless a miraculous run happens. That locker room absolutely believes they can still accomplish that going into their next game against the St. Louis Blues. So let's see how they respond, and if they can make things very interesting.
I do think this team still has what it takes to rally. If it's too little, too late then I'll at least be happy that the team didn't throw in the towel and rip itself apart. These players need to show resiliency and play for each other. If they don't, then that will be an indictment on Head Coach Andrew Brunette not holding the locker room together through the toughest times, and General Manager Barry Trotz will need to make a change in the offseason.
We're not even at the official halfway point of the regular season. The Predators are 11 points back of a wildcard spot. Play like every game is Game 7 of a playoff series and see if something special can happen out of it.