It goes without saying that last season was huge step in the right direction for the Nashville Predators, especially after finishing third-last in 2024-25.
The Predators learned what worked, and what didn't, and now with a roster refresh, they must not forget what made them thrive. With six new faces on offense and one on defense, it's important we don't leave behind some of the success we found in the past.
Using MoneyPuck's NHL lines advanced stats tool, here's a list of some successful lines that head coach Andrew Brunette should consider reusing heading into this season.
Stamkos-O'Reilly-Evangelista
The Stamkos-O'Reilly-Evangelista was statistically the Predators best offensive line last season. It was the leading forward line in expected goals (xGoals) for with 14.5. The line also had the best defensive numbers, recording an expected goals against of 9.7. Together, it held an expected goals percentage of 59.9, making it the 34th best line in the NHL last season. It was the second most used forward line by Brunette but can easily be the first line going forward.
Forsberg-O'Reilly-Evangelista
This is the second and only other forward line in this list for three reasons. First things first, the rest of the other top lines don't exist anymore. After we departed from Erik Haula, Michael Bunting and Michael McCarron, options got very narrow to the point where only two lines were left. Secondly, the remaining lines have smaller sample sizes, which again narrows down what options we have. Lastly, the acquisition of six forwards over the offseason makes mentioning bottom six lines impossible, since most of these new faces will play in these depth roles.
When looking at the numbers, these three were just behind the previous line in offense by only 0.4 xGoals for with 14.1. It was also 0.5 xGoals against behind the previous line with 10.2. If Brunette experiments with Matthew Wood, Mavrik Bourque and Stamkos together, he can rock this as a first line just to keep the offense flowing.
Wilsby-Perbix
The Wilsby-Perbix line is actually surprising to me. It has the highest xGoals percentage with 56.4 They weren't the most offensive line, carrying a 5.3 xGoals for, but they were the best defensive one with a 4.1 xGoals against. This would be a solid bottom pair for Nashville purely because it has strong defensive numbers; a sweet pairing to play when the team needs to lock down a game late.
Josi-Skjei
On the other hand, this is a strong offensive line on the blueline. This by far produced the most goal scoring chances than any other line, including in the forward core with 21.3 xGoals for. The Josi-Skjei pair would go well together with either the Stamkos-O'Reilly-Evangelista or Forsberg-O'Reilly-Evangelista lines. The only true weakness of this duo is defense, which is a bit worrisome, especially since this is a blueline pairing. It carried an xGoals against of 21.1, the second highest on the team. If they can find some more chemistry on the backend, this line can drastically shift this team for the better.
Josi-Hague
If we're looking for a more consistent two-way top line, then the Josi-Hague pairing is it. With an xGoals percentage of 55.4, it was statistically the second-best pairing for the team last season. It is really hard to get a best of both worlds, as this line provided a slightly low 9.3 xGoals for, but a really good 7.5 xGoals against. If we're looking for offense, roll the Josi-Skjei line; and vice versa for Josi-Hague.
Add us as a preferred source on Google