Matthew Wood’s first full NHL season gave the Nashville Predators plenty to like, and now the next step is about putting the right pieces around him.
Wood arrived after a point-per-game run at the University of Minnesota in 2024-25, then got his first taste of NHL action in Nashville’s final six games of the season. That brief look included his first career NHL point, and it also brought renewed attention to one of the questions that followed him from draft night: his skating.
He spent the offseason working, then preseason brought a setback. An injury in late September during an intrasquad scrimmage knocked him out at the start of the 2025-26 season. After a short stop with the Milwaukee Admirals, he made his way back to Nashville, returned against Vancouver, and four games later against Pittsburgh, he scored his first NHL goal.
From there, the production followed. Wood played 71 games and finished with 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points. His 17 goals ranked fourth among Nashville rookies, a strong marker for a player who already looks like a major part of the franchise’s young core.
Now the conversation shifts to what comes next, and the Predators’ offseason moves could help push him higher.
The most notable addition was Mavrik Bourque, acquired from the Dallas Stars. The 24-year-old center posted 20 goals and 41 points in 82 games last season and brings the kind of passing touch and shot that can open things up for Wood.
That matters because Wood thrives in the dirty areas. At 6-foot-4 and 202 pounds, he has the frame to plant himself around the net, screen goalies, and create traffic.
His game, as he has said before, has drawn comparisons to Tage Thompson, especially with the one-timer and the hands in tight.
The fit with Bourque makes sense on paper. MoneyPuck noted that most of Wood’s expected goals came from high-danger, net-front areas, which lines up neatly with Bourque’s ability to feed dangerous spots on the ice.
If Wood is parked in front, Bourque can find him there. If the puck pops loose, Wood has the size and touch to turn it into a tip or a quick finish.
Bourque also adds another layer as a scorer, which is part of why Wood found success last season when he skated alongside elite finishers like Steven Stamkos or Filip Forsberg. Defenses had to pick their poison, and that opened space for everybody involved. Bourque can create a similar problem.
If Forsberg ends up as the linemate, as projected by Daily Faceoff, the Predators could have a dangerous combination on their hands once the chemistry builds. That kind of setup could give Wood a real chance to climb again.
There were bumps along the way last season, including a near-month-long pointless stretch in the winter, but he snapped out of it and got back to scoring. With better linemates, a clearer role, and a full season ahead of him, Wood has a path to another jump.
A 20-goal season is within reach, and 30-plus assists would not be out of the question if everything clicks. Fifty points is a stretch, but 40 is a fair number to circle.
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Then came a sharp rebound in 2025-26, when Stamkos found his scoring touch again and pushed the conversation back in the other direction. Much of that came with Luke Evangelista and Ryan O'Reilly beside him, and the Predators also added Mavrik Bourque and Ross Colton as possible help around him moving forward, which only makes the next version of this lineup more interesting than the last. [Read more 🡒]
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The tricky part is deciding when to act. Evangelista has shown enough growth to make an extension worth pursuing, but the Predators also know the price tag can climb quickly once a player keeps building on a strong year. Nashville may prefer to get ahead of that process early in the 2026-27 season rather than let the situation drag deeper into the year, when the leverage and the cost could both look very different. [Read more 🡒]