The Nashville Predators don’t have a long list of looming RFA headaches, but Luke Evangelista is the one name that jumps off the page.
Matthew Wood is part of that group too, though he still has plenty to prove before the Predators even start thinking about a major payday. Evangelista is a different case. His contract runs out next offseason, and after a breakout third full season, he’s moved into the category of player Nashville has to start planning for now, even if paying him today isn’t at the top of Chris MacFarland’s list.
Mavrik Bourque’s recent extension only sharpens the picture. It gives the Predators a clear benchmark for what Evangelista could be in line for if he keeps trending the way he did last season, and that kind of momentum can make a front office move faster than it planned.
Evangelista’s 2025-26 season was exactly the kind of step forward Nashville wanted to see. He blew past his previous career high in points and was a real presence across the ice. Outside of a rough stretch in March and into April, he was driving plays all season long.
The production wasn’t just showing up in one place. The eye test backed it up, the box score backed it up, and the underlying numbers backed it up too.
Against strong competition, he was making a real impact at both ends. The one thing that still hasn’t fully come around is goal scoring.
He finished with 12 goals and a 6.8 shooting percentage, which was the lowest of his career and the third straight season he has stayed under 10 percent. That’s the piece of his game that still needs to move if he’s going to round out the offensive side of things.
Even so, there’s a reason Nashville may not feel pressure to rush an extension right this second. Evangelista still can’t simply walk into free agency, and he has more room to grow. But if he opens 2026-27 the way he played last year, MacFarland should be thinking hard about getting something done before the season gets too deep.
At that point, it would be tough to argue Evangelista should land for much less than Bourque just did. With player contracts climbing, the Predators may decide the cleaner move is to handle it early rather than let it drift into the offseason.
There is risk there, of course, because the bet is partly on his goal total improving. But contracts these days are built as much on upside as finished product, and Evangelista has already shown enough all-around value to make that kind of gamble feel reasonable.
What Nashville can’t want is for this to drag all the way to next offseason. Offer sheets are more common now, and every strong month he puts together only pushes the price higher. The Predators also have to keep in mind that contract talks already cost Evangelista almost all of training camp last year, and nobody wants a repeat of that.
If they believe he’s part of their future, the cleanest path is to get him locked in early in the season, unless his development stalls.
In Other News...
Steven Stamkos Just Changed The Predators Debate Again
Steven Stamkos arrived in Nashville in 2024 with the kind of rsum that usually settles a debate before it starts, but his first season with the Predators did the opposite. A down year in 2024-25 left plenty of room for questions about how much he had left, and whether the fit would ever look as natural as the name on the back of the jersey suggested.
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 🡒]
Seven Predators Prospects Just Sent A Big Message About The Pipeline
Seven Predators prospects earning invitations to the 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase is the kind of development that says as much about the organizations depth as it does about any one player. Brady Martin, Cameron Reid, Alex Huang and Jack Ivankovic will suit up for Canada, while Wyatt Cullen, Tommy Bleyl and Jacob Rombach are headed to the USA side, giving Nashville a rare spread of young talent across both rosters and another sign that the pipeline is starting to carry real weight.
For the Predators, the timing matters as much as the recognition. Martin is already on a path that could put him among the first of this group to reach the NHL this season, while Bleyl arrives with the kind of rsum that has scouts calling him a major value pick. Add in the recent progress from the others and the commitments they have lined up for the coming season, and Nashville has plenty reason to keep close tabs on what happens at the showcase. [Read more 🡒]