I almost put a future on the Nashville Predators to win the Stanley Cup this year. Almost!
Thankfully I held out; the Predators are deep down in the Western Conference standings and too many points out to even smell the playoffs. Occupying the eighth Wild Card spot with 55 points (24-32-7), the hill is too steep with only 19 games remaining in the 2024-25 campaign.
I almost went all in on that bet because that's how stacked the team looked after an incredibly productive first few days of free agency last July. They inked Stanley Cup winners and re-signed key players. What was supposed to make them true contenders did not play out as they had hoped, it put them on the outside of the post-season looking in. This is proof that winning free agency and the off-season does not guarantee success in this league.
Nashville Predators are proof winning offseason doesn't bring immediate success
This season's trade deadline has come and gone, and while there were blockbuster trades throughout the league (hello Brad Marchand to Florida and Mikko Rantenan to Dallas inking a long-term deal), the Preds didn't complete a trade before the deadline that made waves like their aggressive tactic during free agency. It was rumored that alternate captain Ryan O'Reilly could have been on the trading block, and while he is definitely an offensive asset for the team, trading him would not have made an immediate difference regardless for the return on that move.
A trade I thought made a lot of sense here for Nashville was picking up Michael Bunting and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 Draft from the Pittsburgh Penguins. In exchange they sent the Penguins an aging defenseman in Luke Schenn and forward Tommy Novak. Bunting is currently on injured reserve after having surgery to remove his appendix, but seeing as they don't need his services here right away to clinch a playoff spot, I like the move for the future. He is a decent offensive producer and while not being the biggest player on the ice, he is aggressive. He's been moved a lot during his career (Arizona, Toronto, Carolina, Pittsburgh, now Nashville), but he carries over 15:00 time on ice per game wherever he goes.
Although the standings do not reflect the fact that the Predators have strong pieces to the offensive puzzle, I think it is just a short matter of time before they'll fit. People are saying to give it "a few years", and as someone who almost put a future on them to win the Stanley Cup this year, I say they will make a run sooner rather than later.
Their top goal scorers (and everyone on the roster, really) just needs to get their +/- out of the negative high teens and twenties. That will absolutely help.
Bold prediction: the Predators will make the playoffs in the 2025-26 season.