While last summer’s extravagant spending was aimed at electrifying the Nashville Predators’ offense, general manager Barry Trotz had only one goal in free agency this summer — to fortify the team’s defense.

“If you can’t defend, you can’t win,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”

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Speaking to reporters at Bridgestone Arena on July 1, the first day that NHL teams could sign free agents, Trotz explained the team’s moves, which included adding defensemen Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix.

“We wanted to get bigger and younger (at defense),” Trotz said.

Hague, who was acquired on June 29 in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, signed a four-year deal with Nashville. The 6-foot-6, left-handed defenseman will play on the bottom pairing and earn $22 million over four years.

Perbix, a 6-2, right-handed defenseman, signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal. He could play with either Skjei on the second pair or with Hague on the bottom pair.

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Adding two defensemen over 6-2 satisfies what Trotz saw as a problem last season — the Predators didn’t have enough strength in their own end.

“Last year, we got pushed into our own net a few times as a group. It’s pretty hard to box out when (the other team) has authority,” he said. “I always tell our defensemen to ‘sweep the porch.’ But you’ve got to have the defensemen to be able to do that.”

Nashville lost key defensemen down the stretch last season, some to injury and some to trades. Lauzon and Roman Josi both suffered season-ending injuries. Then Luke Schenn was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline. Adding Hague and Perbix keeps Nashville stocked with veteran defensemen.

“At the end of (last) year, our defense was Brady Skjei and pretty much all minor league guys and some waiver pickups,” Trotz said. “This defense will be something that can really help our team.”

With center depth lacking, Predators will have to win in other ways

Trotz spent nearly $60 million on forwards last summer, signing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. This summer? Nothing.

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“We’ve been a little more quiet this year, but we really just focused on our defense,” Trotz said.

Not that there was much to spend on — most of the big free agents were extended by their original teams — but it means that most of last season’s forwards are returning to Nashville. Colton Sissons is now in Vegas, replaced by center Erik Haula, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils on June 18, but the Predators’ forward group from 2024-25 will look nearly the same in 2025-26.

Which means center depth is again going to be an issue. Barring any trades, the Predators have Ryan O’Reilly, Fedor Svechkov, Michael McCarron and Haula down the middle.

Trotz acknowledged he was unable to upgrade the center position and admitted the team will have to rely on other ways to win.

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“There’s different ways to (win), you’re just going to have to adjust and have commitment from the whole group,” he said. “If you look at it on paper, it’s not a deep center group. There’s no question. So how do you win? You can win with a really good defense. I did that for years. You do that with team commitment to defense.”

That will put even more pressure on scoring wingers like Stamkos, Marchessault and Filip Forsberg, who again will have to compensate for a lack of offense at the center position.

“I can’t produce a top-line centerman overnight,” Trotz said. “So we’ve still got to build this team. We didn’t say we were going to build it overnight. We’re going to build it and try to be competitive and strong and continue to try to win.”

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Predators’ Barry Trotz focused on defense in free agency opener