In less than a week, the Nashville Predators open the 2025-26 season, hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 9 at Bridgestone Arena.
After a summer of reflection, the Predators are ready to move on from last year’s 30-44-8 record, the second-worst season in franchise history. But the pain is still fresh from the disappointment. No one knows that better than Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette, who is entering his third season with Nashville.
“Internally, you know you’re not doing well,” Brunette told The Tennessean on Sept. 20. “But you try to shut the noise from the outside. We’re not done here.”
Shutting off the noise from the outside will be easy if they get off to a hot start, so the quality of their opening night lineup is crucial.
Unfortunately, two injuries have already surfaced. Defenseman Nic Hague, acquired in a trade in the offseason, is out 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury and forward Matthew Wood is out “week-to-week” with a lower body injury.
Assuming those two start on injured reserve, here’s our projection of Nashville’s opening night lineup, which must be finalized with the league by Oct. 7.
Projecting the Nashville Predators forward lineup
The forward lineup is complicated by two factors. One is the ongoing Luke Evangelista contract deadlock. Right now, it doesn’t seem likely he’ll be signed in time to play on opening night. The two sides are far apart and Evangelista is still not in Nashville with the team.
The other factor is the team selecting Tyson Jost on waivers on Oct. 1. Is he just an insurance piece in case they don’t sign Evangelista? Or is he a part of the plan moving forward?
At least 10 forwards are locks to make the roster, 11 if you count Evangelista. That leaves only two more forward spots are up for grabs. The Predators usually keep 13 forwards to begin the season..
Here’s how it probably looks on opening night:
Filip Forsberg (LW)Ryan O’Reilly (C)Steven Stamkos (LW)Jonathan Marchessault (RW)Fedor Svechkov (C)Cole Smith (LW)Michael McCarron (C)Erik Haula (C)Michael Bunting (LW)Zach L’Heureux (RW)Ozzy Wiesblatt (RW, rookie)Tyson Jost (LW, RW)Brady Martin (C, rookie)Matthew Wood (RW, rookie, likely injured reserve)
If this holds true, the Predators will have two rookies on their opening night lineup, including Brady Martin, their top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Martin would be second youngest player ever to debut for Predators at 18 years, 207 days (Scott Hartnell debuted at 18 years, 171 days).
Projecting the Nashville Predators defense and goaltending lineup
Let’s get the goaltenders out of the way: Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen will the Nashville’s tandem this season.
The defense is more complicated than the goaltenders, but simpler than the forwards. At the top is Roman Josi, Adam Wilsby, Brady Skjei, and Nick Perbix. The bottom pairing will either be Spencer Stastney with Justin Barron or rookie Tanner Molendyk with Nick Blankenburg.
The Preators typically keep eight defenseman on hand, so here’s how it likely shakes out:
Roman JosiAdam Wilsby (rookie)Brady SkjeiNick PerbixJustin BarronSpencer StastneyNick BlankenburgTanner Molendyk (rookie)Nic Hague (likely injured reserve)
This leaves the Predators’ 23-man roster at 13 forwards, eight defenseman, and two goaltenders.
The Predators have one more preseason game, on Oct. 4 against the Hurricanes (3 p.m. CT), before they open the regular season on Oct. 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. CT) at Bridgestone Arena.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex atjdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.