Without major roster changes or adjustments by Andrew Brunette, it’s difficult to see how the Preds really improve in 2025-26. They upgraded their third pair on defense, but they still lack a No. 1 center – it’s a theme with this franchise – and their roster is quickly aging. All six of their top scorers last season are at least 30 years old.
There’s also the issue of simply having too many right-handed players, which seems trivial, but it does matter when you’re sharing the puck and on power play formations. Among forwards who finished the season with the Preds last season, right-handed shots combined for 101 goals while left-handed shots accounted for just 47, 21 of which were scored by Ryan O’Reilly.
Individually, we can certainly bank on some of their players to improve; Filip Forsberg, Michael Bunting Roman Josi, Brady Skjei and Juuse Saros are better players than last season’s numbers suggest, and a cadre of young players in Joakim Kemell, Fedor Svechkov, Zach L’Heureux, Luke Evangelista and potentially Matthew Wood provide some untapped upside.
The lineup still needs a lot of configuring. Steven Stamkos finished the season as their top center between Jonathan Marchessault and Forsberg – all righty shots, by the way – but the Lightning were right; Stamkos is no longer a reliable center. He doesn’t drive play, his defensive game is okay at best, and speed and face-offs might be an issue.
Moving Stamkos back to the wing, where he’s probably better suited, presents the same problem they had last season – too little depth at center. Acquiring Erik Haula, who basically replaces the underrated Colton Sissons, will take some pressure off Ryan O’Reilly, who won’t always have to be the matchup center anymore. However, Haula, who’s two years older than Sissons, also saw his game decline last season, too. Between Haula and Fedor Svechkov, I’m not convinced there’s enough offense between them to equal one competent No. 2 center.
If Stamkos stays at center, the Preds’ wingers are certainly intriguing as it opens up a spot in the top six. The breakout candidate is Evangelista, who had an excellent finish to the season with 16 points in 23 games and averaged nearly 16 minutes per game.
Wood, who saw some action following his junior season with the University of Minnesota where he finished third in goals and tied-second in points, is one of the Preds’ prized prospects, but the knock against Wood is his skating and an inconsistent effort – two things that are required to excel in the NHL. Kemell, who might be paired with Haula, a fellow Finn, looks ready for prime time after two solid seasons in the AHL with 35 goals and 81 points in 129 games.
Defensively, I suspect Brady Skjei will improve and obviously having a healthy Roman Josi will help. I think Nic Hague and Nick Perbix is a fine third pair, if a little expensive, but the big question is how Juuse Saros will fare.
I think it’s fair to criticize the Preds for using Saros far too much; only Saros and Connor Hellebuyck have started at least 60 games for three straight seasons heading into 2024-25, and a smaller goalie like Saros (5-foot-11, compared to Hellebuyck’s 6-foot-4) needs to use his strength and athleticism to make stops. That has to get tiring at some point. If the Preds can’t provide good goal support and their defense is a constant mess – last season, Alexandre Carrier and Nick Blankenburg were top four in TOI/GP, Jeremy Lauzon played only 28 games – it makes Saros’ job a lot harder. Except for November, Saros never posted a save percentage higher than .902 in any other month.
Not having to start 60 games in 2024-25 probably did Saros some good, especially with increased rest to finish the season. Saros started 22 of 26 games until Dec. 4 when they swapped Scott Wedgewood (who did fine for the Avs, by the way) for Justus Annunen, and then started Saros in 9 of 16 games for the final month the season.
Prediction:
While a bounce-back season is more than likely given how disappointing they were, this is a roster that’s no closer to competing even if the Preds decide to give younger players bigger roles. They’re not built to last – more likely to finish last, honestly – with so much money tied to so many veterans. I don’t think the Preds will finish in the bottom five, but they will still finish well outside of playoff position, leaving GM Barry Trotz plenty of work to undo his biggest mistakes.
Asides from Filip Forsberg, the Preds are playing (and paying) second-line forwards like first-line forwards. Forsberg is not good enough to carry the offense on his own, and Brunette cannot devise a proper strategy with so many right-hand shots who need the puck. Barring a major roster shakeup, the Preds just flounder for most of the season. Saros does his best to keep the Preds in contention, but the massive weight is too much to carry for the undersized goalie.
All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com, moneypuck.com, hockeyviz.com, allthreezones.com, hockey-reference.com, eliteprospects.com unless otherwise noted.