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Last Word On Hockey‘s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2026-27 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team throughout the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2026-27 Nashville Predators. The 2026-27 Nashville Predators 2025-26 Season The Nashville Predators had their second-consecutive unsuccessful campaign in 2025-26. They finished the season in sixth place in the Central Division with 86 points, and their Stanley Cup Playoff aspirations had taken a significant hit by the holiday break. In February, general manager Barry Trotz announced he would be stepping down from his role at the end of the season. The Preds were sellers at the trade deadline, offloading forward Michael Bunting to Seattle, forward Cole Smith to Vegas, centre Michael McCarron to Minnesota, and defenceman Nick Blankenburg to Colorado. They were not able to find a suitable deal to move any of their veterans on monster contracts. Ultimately, they finished just four points out of a wild card spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. The season was a confirmation that a major retool was required to bring the Nashville Predators back to contention. They were a team in the mushy middle; they were chasing a wild card spot to the end, but the chase landed them farther away from a high draft pick rather than securing a playoff spot. 2026 Offseason New GM for the Draft It was an extremely busy offseason for the Predators. It began with the hiring of a new president and general manager, Chris MacFarland. MacFarland inherited a team that had Trotz’s stamp all over it, with multiple aging veterans in big contracts and holding no movement clauses. The path forward for the Preds will not be an easy one, but the new GM went to work immediately. At the NHL Draft, the Predators had two first round picks. At 10th overall they selected forward Wyatt Cullen, and then at 31st overall they chose defenceman Tommy Bleyl. Both young players have solid potential, but neither is expected to be ready for NHL duty for a couple of years. Departures and Arrivals In the free agency market, Nashville saw the departure of centreman Erik Haula and defenceman Andreas Englund, while adding forward Alexander Kerfoot. In a further attempt to improve their roster, Nashville acquired several players by trade over the course of the offseason. Forwards Ross Colton and Jack Drury were added from the Colorado Avalanche. A trade with the Dallas Stars resulted in the arrival of centreman Mavrik Bourque and defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin. Forward Nils Hoglander was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks. In a deal with the New York Rangers, forward Adam Edstrom was added. In a surprising late deal, promising forward Luke Evangelista was dealt to the New Jersey Devils on September 1st for picks. MacFarland said the decision was not made lightly, and the intention was to create cap and roster flexibility to improve the team moving forward. No doubt the GM would prefer that flexibility came from the departure of an aging veteran, but that won’t come easily for the Preds. Lineup Projections Forwards | LW | C | RW | | Filip Forsberg | Ryan O’Reilly | Jonathan Marchessault | | Steven Stamkos | Mavrik Bourque | Matthew Wood | | Ross Colton | Jack Drury | Nils Hoglander | | Alex Kerfoot | Vitali Pinchuk | Ozzy Wiesblatt | Extras: Adam Edstrom Top Six Nashville’s top six has four veterans who are on the back nine of their careers. The Preds are hoping that Forsberg, O’Reilly, and Stamkos will return as strong as they were last season, and that Marchessault has a bounce back year. Bourque will have a chance to claim the second-line centreman role and Matthew Wood will have a chance to develop alongside legends. Bottom Six The entire bottom six of the Nashville Predators has a combined 45 games with the Preds, and they all belong to Ozzy Weisblatt. That’s a lot of turnover, but MacFarlane has collected some veteran bottom sixers, and taken a swing at Vitali Pinchuk being able to convert his game to the NHL. A successful season may count on these guys finding some chemistry quickly. Defence | LD | RD | | Roman Josi | Brady Skjei | | Nicolas Hague | Nick Perbix | | Adam Wilsby | Ilya Lyubushkin | Extras: Justin Barron Top Four Roman Josi and Brady Skjei will return as the top pair. Josie is 36 years old and has two years left on his contract, but remains one of the league’s top defenders. Skjei is a solid partner and is in a long term contract with the Preds. Behind them, each defender is probably in a slightly inappropriate chair. Perbix is probably best as a third pair guy, and Hague would be best with a true number three beside him. Bottom Pair The Preds just re-signed Justin Barron and are hopeful he has not yet reached his ceiling. Lyubushkin was brought in for insurance, and a veteran presence alongside the youngsters. All three players have a third pair ceiling at this stage. Goalies | Goalies | | Juuse Saros | | Justus Annunen | The veteran goaltender, Juuse Saros, is expected to continue to hold the fort in Nashville. His personal statistics have taken a hit over the last two seasons while the team has struggled. Justus Annunen is a respectable back-up, whose numbers were better than Saros’ last year. There are two considerations for the Preds in net. The first consideration is that Saros is 31 years old and has seven years remaining on his contract that carries a cap hit of $7.74M. If the Predators intend to maximize the return from the veteran they will need to get serious about load management and employing a more balanced tandem. Annunen has demonstrated that he is up to the task. Another consideration for Nashville is that they have to improve on team defence in this retool. There is only so much the netminders can do. Players to Watch Mavrik Bourque: Bourque was acquired to fill the second line centreman role. The 24-year-old just completed his second complete season in the NHL and had 20 goals and 21 assists in 82 games. He will have more opportunity and a bigger role in Nashville and the Preds are hoping he will rise to it. O’Reilly is a pending unrestricted free agent, and if the season goes poorly he could be used at the deadline to support the retool. That would leave the Preds very thin down the middle and that means the pressure is on for Bourque. Vitali Pinchuk: Pinchuk is a wild card for Nashville. He arrives from the KHL, where he was an offensive centreman. He is a big man who protects the puck well, has the vision and IQ of a playmaker, and can also finish. The jury is still out on whether his game will convert to the NHL, or if he can be successful as a centre in North America. Prediction for the 2026-27 Nashville Predators Chris MacFarland certainly took a homerun swing on revamping the Nashville Predators this summer, but it remains to be seen whether that swing actually connected. A lot is riding on veterans on the back nine of their careers not losing a step. Additionally, a new cast of characters will have a very short runway to learn their lines, no pun intended. With five players who are pending unrestricted free agents, the new GM will need to spend the season doing an honest evaluation of his team. The Preds are a long shot to make the playoffs, and if that reality unfolds, an earnest sell at the deadline could really jumpstart a rebuild. Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports