The Nashville Predators have already made a lot of noise this offseason, even if the latest buzz around them has gone quiet.
That’s a sharp turn from the last couple of years, when Barry Trotz’s expensive bets on Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos, and Brady Skjei never really delivered the payoff Nashville wanted. The roster needed a reset, and the front office knew it. Under new GM Chris MacFarland, the Predators have moved toward a younger, deeper group instead of continuing to ship out more young talent.
But that doesn’t mean the work is done.
Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com and Full Press Hockey recently joined Nashville Sports Radio and said he still believes more could be coming for the Predators, even after an active offseason that brought in Jack Drury, Ross Colton, Mavrik Bourque, and Ilya Lyubushkin.
“Yeah, well, let’s start off. Let’s backtrack a little bit.
Last time I was on the show, we talked about how Nashville was going to have an active offseason, and they did. You were bringing Chris MacFarland.
He gets a couple of guys he knows in Jack Drury and Ross Colton. And the big storyline here throughout Nashville has to get younger, got to get deeper, especially down the middle.
You bring in a couple centers, and then you go get Mavrik Bourque from Dallas and Ilya Lyubushkin.
Now, word on the street was that that trade was orchestrated because there was a potential offer sheet coming from the Nashville Predators to Mavrik Bourque, so that kind of facilitated that trade. And I still think they’re not done with something. I still think they’re going to reshape their roster a little bit more because they got a little younger, and I know Chris MacFarland talked about not giving out handouts.
He wants the young players to earn a spot, and I think some guys are going to do that. But I still keep my eye on some of those veterans, a guy like Jonathan Marchessault. So I almost wonder if they’re trying to, like, quietly see if they can get out of that deal and try to move some players along, but again, he said the veterans are going to dictate how this team is going to go.
But I still think if they can facilitate something and move that money, that might be helpful for this team. But again, it’s been quiet around Nashville, and that’s a good thing because the last couple of years, all we heard was just name after name after name coming out. That’s not how you want to do business in the National Hockey League.”
Marchessault has been a name to watch since last season. He’s entering the third year of a five-year deal that carries a $5.5 million cap hit, and he also has a no-movement clause. Even so, his fit in Nashville has not looked settled, and the contract remains one of the more interesting pieces on the board as the Predators continue to sort out their roster.
With the cap rising, that $5.5 million number is still manageable for a player who has consistently scored. The bigger question is whether Nashville decides to keep him in place or keep turning over the roster as the 2026 offseason moves on.
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 🡒]
Predators Face A Costly Luke Evangelista Decision Soon
Luke Evangelistas next contract is already shaping up as one of the more important roster decisions on Nashvilles horizon. The winger is coming off a breakout 2025-26 season that pushed his point totals to a career high, giving the Predators a younger offensive piece to evaluate as he heads into restricted free agency with his current deal set to expire next offseason.
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 🡒]