{"id":557109,"date":"2026-04-21T06:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557109\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T06:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:36:27","slug":"predators-players-not-expecting-summer-roster-overhaul-after-narrowly-missing-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/557109\/","title":{"rendered":"Predators players not expecting summer roster overhaul after narrowly missing playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nNashville Predators players Brady Skjei, Nick Perbix, Cole O\u2019Hara, Ryan O\u2019Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Juuse Saros line up for the national nathem before their season finale on April 16, 2026 at Bridgestone Arena. JOHN RUSSELL\/NASHVILLE PREDATORS <\/p>\n

Change is a constant in professional sports, especially for teams who miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons like the Nashville Predators.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s roster will not look the same. It never does.<\/p>\n

But Predators players aren\u2019t expecting a major summer overhaul either. Monday\u2019s exit meetings provided that assurance as Nashville (38-34-10) continues its search to replace retiring general manager Barry Trotz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the message was clear today from the current management, the coaching staff and ownership to players that the expectation is to be a contending, playoff team,\u201d Steven Stamkos said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that is going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Predators<\/a> might still be skating instead of talking if it had not been for their awful start to the season.<\/p>\n

After falling to last place in the league standings just before Thanksgiving, the Predators went 32-22-6 over the next five months to finish four points out of the Western Conference\u2019s final wild card spot. They had the NHL\u2019s fifth-best penalty kill (81.7% success rate) and tied for the 10th-best power play (23.1%).<\/p>\n

Nashville did it all while trading away four key role players and replacing them with prospects who had been biding their time in the minors. It\u2019s enough cause for optimism, according to Filip Forsberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, we showed progress, especially down the stretch,\u201d Forsberg said. \u201cWe showed that there\u2019s a lot of youth and excitement. We showed that some of us old farts still have some good hockey in us. We\u2019re obviously not slowing down any time soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s a great opportunity for really anyone to come in (as the next GM) and take advantage. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re coming into a team that\u2019s on the bottom and needs to be blown up, in my opinion. I think whoever we hire is going to share that view. At the same time, we need to adapt, evolve and be better next year and make the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\nNashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg celebrates scoring a goal against the Anaheim Ducks on April 16, 2026 at Bridgestone Arena. JOHN RUSSELL\/NASHVILLE PREDATORS <\/p>\n

There are no guarantees, of course, until a new GM is hired.<\/p>\n

A fresh set of eyes could still view the Predators as an aging team ripe for a reset. Nashville has missed the playoffs three of the past four seasons, and its one berth during that stretch required a franchise-record point streak of 18 games in 2023-24.<\/p>\n

The Predators did at least have more to show from this season than last year, which was their worst in franchise history other than the inaugural 1998-99 campaign.<\/p>\n

Forsberg and Stamkos<\/a> both reached the 40-goal mark, 24-year-old winger Luke Evangelista stepped into a consistent top-six role, backup goaltender Justus Annunen<\/a> played well enough to earn late-season starts over Juuse Saros, and rookies like Matthew Wood and Ryan Ufko looked the part in their first extended auditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe failed not getting into the playoffs, but we definitely came closer and put a game out there that we can be proud of,\u201d Ryan O\u2019Reilly said. \u201cThat\u2019s something we hope is just going to be added to, and we (can) get back at it next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trotz, who\u2019s expected to remain with the team in an advisory role next season, said there will be no sacred cows for the next GM. Significant roster upheaval could eventually happen.<\/p>\n

The players will ultimately determine where the team goes next by how they perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a belief still in the core group of guys that are here,\u201d Stamkos said. \u201cYou saw the young players get their chance and what they\u2019re capable of doing. They\u2019re going to have to bring more next year, and the veteran guys are going to have to bring again what they brought this year. That\u2019s how you improve. That\u2019ll be the blueprint heading into next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow Russell Vannozzi on X\/Twitter\u00a0@RussellV_MSP<\/a>. For the latest Nashville Predators stories, be sure to\u00a0sign up<\/a>\u00a0for the Main Street Nashville email newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nashville Predators players Brady Skjei, Nick Perbix, Cole O\u2019Hara, Ryan O\u2019Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Juuse Saros line…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5119],"tags":[5,2409,231,5281,4,2410],"class_list":{"0":"post-557109","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nashville-predators","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-nashville","10":"tag-nashville-predators","11":"tag-nashvillepredators","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-predators"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116441317338927735","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}