Nashville Predators 2026-27 Preview: New GM, New Faces, Same Urgency

Nashville missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons in 2025-26, finishing sixth in the Central with 86 points and a goals-against that ranked among the league's worst. New GM Chris MacFarland moved quickly to add speed and depth up front, but the core problems in goal and on the back end remain largely unaddressed.

Last season in review

The offence was not the issue. Filip Forsberg posted 75 points, Steven Stamkos bounced back with 42 goals, and Ryan O'Reilly chipped in 74 points as the team's most reliable two-way centre. The problem was at the other end. Nashville allowed 269 goals, ranking 26th in the league at 3.26 against per game, and gave up at least four goals in 29 of 82 games. Juuse Saros played 59 games, second-most in the NHL, and his numbers were the worst of his career: a .894 save percentage and a 3.16 goals-against average. A goalie that good posting those numbers is a red flag, not a footnote. The Predators also dug an early-season hole, sitting dead last in the NHL standings as late as December 8. That pattern has now repeated itself across multiple seasons.

Ins and outs

• In: Mavrik Bourque (acquired from Dallas, signed to a six-year contract)
• In: Ilya Lyubushkin (acquired from Dallas alongside Bourque)
• In: Ross Colton (acquired from Colorado)
• In: Jack Drury (acquired from Colorado, signed to a five-year contract)
• In: Adam Edstrom (acquired from the New York Rangers)
• In: Nils Hoglander (acquired from Vancouver)
• In: Alex Kerfoot (signed as a free agent, two-year contract)
• In: Chris MacFarland (hired as GM and president of hockey operations, replacing Barry Trotz)
• Out: Luke Evangelista (traded to New Jersey for two 2028 draft picks)
• Out: Tommy Novak (signed with Pittsburgh)
• Out: Erik Haula (signed with Los Angeles)
• Out: Zachary L'Heureux (traded to Colorado in the Drury deal)
• Out: Fedor Svechkov (traded to Colorado in the Drury deal)

The big question

Can Juuse Saros return to the form that made him one of the NHL's best goaltenders, or was last season a sign of something more permanent? Nashville's defence corps is largely the same group that allowed 3.26 goals per game, so Saros will need to be significantly better for this team to climb back into playoff contention. There is no obvious backup plan if he struggles again.

X-factor

Mavrik Bourque is the most interesting new piece. The 24-year-old set career highs across the board with Dallas last season, putting up 41 points in 82 games, but he averaged only 15:29 of ice time and under a minute per game on the power play. In Nashville, with Forsberg and Stamkos on the top unit and a genuine need for a No. 1 centre, Bourque is being asked to do far more than he ever has. If he handles the expanded role, he could be a genuine breakout candidate. If the jump proves too steep, Nashville's middle of the lineup has a real problem.

Bold prediction

Nashville gets back into the playoffs, but only as a wild card, with a slow start once again threatening to make the whole conversation moot by December.

The outlook

MacFarland has the Predators moving faster and younger up front, and the early-camp energy around players like Bourque and Jonathan Marchessault, who changed his summer training after a down year, suggests some genuine buy-in. But the goaltending situation and a defence that has not been meaningfully upgraded are real concerns. Nashville opens at home against Minnesota on October 1. How they come out of the gate will tell you almost everything you need to know about whether this rebuild-adjacent retool is actually working.