The Nashville Predators have set their 23-man roster ahead of the Oct. 9 home opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network).
The roster, which consists of 14 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders, features four rookies: 2025 No. 5 overall draft pick Brady Martin, Joakim Kemell, Ozzy Wiesblatt and Adam Wilsby.
The Predators began training camp on Sept. 17 with nearly 60 players.
Barry Trotz is entering his third season as Predators general manager, and Andrew Brunette is going into his third as coach. Trotz has assembled an interesting mix of veterans and rookies, looking to move on from last season’s disaster that resulted in a 30-44-8 record and a seventh-place finish in the Central Division.
The forward lineup is similar to last season’s, which may not be encouraging as Nashville struggled to score. But a few newcomers, including Martin, Tyson Jost and Erik Haula, may help jump-start the offense.
Meanwhile, the team beefed up its defense in the summer, adding Nic Hague and Nick Perbix. Hague will begin the season on injured reserve, but should be out only a few weeks. Roman Josi, who says he is feeling great after his POTS diagnosis, is entering his ninth season as Nashville’s captain.
Forwards (14): Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Ryan O’Reilly, Michael Bunting, Erik Haula, Luke Evangelista (non-roster), Cole Smith, Brady Martin, Michael McCarron, Fedor Svechkov, Joakim Kemell, Tyson Jost, Ozzy Wiesblatt, Matthew Wood (injured reserve)Defense (7): Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, Nick Perbix, Adam Wilsby, Justin Barron, Spencer Stastney, Nick Blankenburg, Nic Hague (injured reserve)Goaltenders (2): Juuse Saros, Justus Annunen
Evangelista is listed as non-roster while awaiting his immigration status, but is considered among the final 23 to make the team. Hague (upper-body) and Wood (lower-body) both will be on injured reserve to begin the season and do not count among the 23 players.
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.