Steven Stamkos has just one goal in 11 games. Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette hopes a switch to center will jumpstart Stamkos and the team's offense.
Oct 26, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos (91) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Dallas Stars during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
When the Nashville Predators signed Steven Stamkos prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, general manager Barry Trotz and head coach Andrew Brunette envisioned the club’s offense getting a massive boost.
Who could blame them? After all, Stamkos was coming off a 2023-24 season in which he potted 40 goals and recorded 41 assists for 81 points with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Upon signing his four-year, $32 million contract ($8 million AAV) with Nashville, the No. 1 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft had accumulated 555 goals and 582 assists for 1,137 points in 1,082 games over 16 NHL seasons.
After a 2024-25 campaign that saw his goal production drop to 27 and assist total shrink to 26, Stamkos and the Predators were hoping for a bounce-back year.
Through 11 games in 2025-26, that has yet to happen. Stamkos has just one goal and one assist, no power-play goals and 25 shots on goal.
Not exactly the production Stamkos and the Preds were hoping for.
Even playing against his former team didn’t get the 35-year-old forward going. In Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Lightning, Stamkos took just three shots on goal with no points in 16:23 of ice time.
In fact, Stamkos has just three assists in the three games he's played against the Lightning since coming to Nashville.
Prior to Tuesday's game, Preds head coach Andrew Brunette addressed Stamkos’s struggles. Brunette called him a “first-ballot Hall of Famer”, saying finding a suitable linemate is one of the issues he’s facing.
“He’s having trouble finding some chemistry,” Brunette said. “That’s kind of been for the whole time he’s here. We’re hoping we find somebody for him.”
The Preds have struggled to get consistency and scoring at center. Brady Martin, Nashville’s fifth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, made the team out of training camp and centered a line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly.
After registering just one assist and two shots in three appearances, Martin was assigned back to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.
Fedor Svechkov has also struggled in the pivot and is still looking for his first goal of the season. He was a healthy scratch the past two games, and Brunette put Stamkos at center hoping that will initiate more chances.
“He still skates great,” Brunette said Tuesday. “We just want him to have the puck more. As a center, it gives him a little more freedom.”
Stamkos, outwardly at least, is happy to play where the team needs him.
“(Brunette) and I have talked,” Stamkos said prior to Tuesday’s game. “I’m obviously comfortable playing there. I thought, when we made the switch last year, that it kind of helped out… I thought (the Dallas game) felt good. I feel like you’re involved a little more, touch the puck a little more. Hopefully, that continues to translate.”
This isn’t the first time Brunette has switched Stamkos from the wing to center. He did so last year when Tommy Novak struggled to get going. The Preds eventually traded Novak and Luke Schenn to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Michael Bunting and a 2026 fourth-round pick last March.
Once again, Brunette is putting Stamkos back in the middle hoping to spark an offense that is 27th in the NHL in goals for this season an has generated two or fewer goals in eight of 11 games.
The best way for Stamkos to get going, regardless of whether he’s playing at center or on the wing, is to get more shots on goal. Averaging 2.27 shots through the first 11 games is not a recipe for success. Last season, he had 174.
Nashville’s offense has other issues besides Stamkos’ struggles. His ability to score, however, was a major reason the club signed him. They aren’t paying him just to skate well; they need him to take more shots and put the puck in the net.
Two games with Stamkos at center is a small sample size, but the Preds can’t afford to wait much longer to get the consistency they so desperately need from him. Switching him back and forth won’t help in finding the right chemistry, either.
Only time will tell if Stamkos will recapture at least some of the magic that earned him two Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies and back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning.
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