The Nashville Predators open their 2025-26 NHL regular season on Oct. 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena, ready to move on from last year’s disastrous season.

While most of the Predators‘ roster is the same, including forwards Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Jonathan Marchessault, there are a few new names and rookies to keep an eye on this season.

On defense, Nic Hague and Nick Perbix signed multi-year contracts over the summer, adding some size and length to the back end. Hague will begin the year on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, but should be out only 2-3 weeks. Also new is forward Erik Haula, back for his second stint in Nashville. The Predators acquired Haula in a trade with New Jersey on June 18.

The most surprising development is the influx of rookies on the opening night roster. Nashville will roll four rookies in the lineup: No. 5 overall pick Brady Martin, defenseman Adam Wilsby, and forwards Ozzy Wiesblatt and Joakim Kemell.

At practice on Oct. 8, coach Andrew Brunette said he feels like the rookies are ready to play especially because the veterans in the room are helping them along.

“Everybody’s taken on a leadership role with them,” Brunette told reporters at Centennial Sportsplex. “They’ve taken them under their wing, but also I think (the rookie’s) energy is going to be really important for us.”

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Here’s what you can expect for the Predators opening night lineup against the Blue Jackets.

Expected lines for Predators opening night vs Blue Jackets

Forwards:

Filip Forsberg – Brady Martin – Ryan O’Reilly

Steven Stamkos – Fedor Svechkov – Joakim Kemell

Michael Bunting – Erik Haula – Jonathan Marchessault

Cole Smith – Michael McCarron – Ozzy Wiesblatt

Scratches: Tyson Jost, Luke Evangelista

Defenseman:

Adam Wilsby – Roman Josi

Brady Skjei – Nick Perbix

Spencer Stastney – Justin Barron

Scratch: Nick Blankenburg

Goaltenders:

Juuse Saros

Justus Annunen

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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.