The Predators are weaker down the middle and have to find a way to better themselves quickly.

Possibly the biggest knock on the Nashville Predators this season is the lack of strength at center. Fortunately, the team took a chance on 32-year-old Ryan O'Reilly last season after a down year and he proved he can handle top line duties down the middle. Beyond that, there is a bit of an issue that will have to be addressed.

With the offseason moves by the Predators, they are undoubtedly Stanley Cup contenders. What might hold them back is having centermen like Tommy Novak or Colton Sissons be matched up against a second line center on an opposing team in the playoffs like Leon Draisaitl, Elias Pettersson, Tomas Hertl, or Wyatt Johnston.

O'Reilly is older and it remains to be seen how quickly he declines. Whether last season was a sign that he still has a number of years left as an impactful top-6 center or everything just fell into place, we can't tell yet. Regardless, Nashville would ideally want him as a second line center at $4.5 million AAV and have another high-end player in the top-6.

After O'Reilly, Sissons and Novak will battle it out for the right to play between Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault on the second line this season. I have a good feeling we see both tried out and the lines mixed up a bit for the best results. Either way, Sissons is an ideal third line center and Novak hasn't proven enough for the Predators to have full confidence he can step up and handle the responsibility. Novak has logged less than 15 minutes per game on average in each of the past two seasons, even with solid numbers and opportunity for the taking in the top-6.

Don't get me wrong, Novak could definitely prove he can return to his 2022-23 form and fit in very nicely on the second line with much better linemates. To at least start the season, that could be the plan. He did score 17 goals and 43 points in 51 games when he finally broke into the NHL in a full-time role two seasons ago.

Beyond that, there aren’t really any strong options to take over in a top-6 center role from the prospect group or among the younger forwards. Juuso Parssinen, Fyodor Svechkov, and Philip Tomasino are all longer shots, but not completely out of the question. None of the three will have great opportunities to prove themselves in an important NHL role this season without multiple injuries to the team.

After those three, none of the other high-end prospects are centers first and foremost. Zachary L’Heureux might be able to in the future, but he fits well on the wing.

So what are the Predators to do? Development is key, but the focus also has to be drafting centers before being able to develop them. By the time Nashville can do that, the window to win might have closed for the time being. This is why developing all the strong forward talent they have already is important to success.

It’s tough to find top centers that a team doesn’t draft and develop, even for a team like the Predators in a place a lot of players would have near the top of their lists of destinations to play. The top UFA centers signed this offseason were Elias Lindholm and Chandler Stephenson. The latter is an overpay. Lindholm remains to be seen. Either way, both teams signing them had to dish out lengthy contracts to older players.

The top trade option down the middle was Pierre-Luc Dubois who is already on his fourth team at 26 years old. Whichever centers appear to be heading to free agency after this season are more likely to be re-signed by the time we get there.

The Predators could use their three first-round draft picks in 2025 as leverage to set themselves up for the future, but have to have a strategy moving forward. I expect a move at the deadline if at least one strong option at center presents itself and Novak/Sissons haven't proven they can handle second line duties.

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