5 Keys to the Nashville Predators 2026 Offseason and Future

Unless something surprising happens, the Predators won't be doing an overhaul before the 2026-27 season, but they know they have to improve.

Forward Matthew Wood is one of the young players the Nashville Predators plan to build around. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The following sentence something that most hockey fans never through that they’d see, or probably never even contemplated until very recently: Nick Saban is involved in the interviews for the general manager position with the Nashville Predators.

What does he know about hockey? Not a lot, although as a part-owner of the franchise he’s certainly learning.

But what does he know about running a sports team? Everything.

At the core of the greatest dynasty in college football history was Nick Saban’s “Process,” which had everything to do with approach and ignoring both “instant gratification” and anything one can’t control.  “Ignore the Noise” was something he’d say inside the building, but he’d also send messages to his players through the media with things like calling over-praise “rat poison.”

The Process is actually pretty straightforward, it’s focus on small tasks (like each snap in football), affect the things you can impact, and in turn achieve long-term goals by maximizing your performance. But the underlining part of it is to be better prepared and work harder than your opponent, plus Saban is an incredibly detail-oriented manager.

When it comes to “Here’s how we’re going to do things” no one could top Saban, who was a rare college football coach who liked to recruit as much as he liked to coach games and practices. If he wasn’t outworking everyone during the season, he was doing it in a different way during the offseason.

That rubs off, and if his success isn’t convincing enough, consider all the former assistants who have taken it to other schools and been successful including Kirby Smart, Steve Sarkisian, Lane Kiffin, Dann Lanning, Mario Cristobol, Jimbo Fisher and Curt Cignetti. Combined, Saban and his former assistants have won 11 of the last 17 national titles.

It also didn’t hurt that most people in the Alabama football building were scared of him, but that’s another story.

Saban also coached at the NFL level for numerous years as an assistant, and as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator, then briefly as a head coach with the Miami Dolphins. He might be known for his success at the collegiate level, but more than understands the pro game too.

He probably isn’t making a lot of people nervous around the offices at Bridgestone Arena, quite the opposite. Just like with the NFL Draft coverage tonight, when he something to say, people should listen. And because he obviously has a financial interest as well, Saban won’t hold back.

That’s one thing that’s different with the Predators this offseason. Another is that the rebuild is already well under way, with a team that still nearly made the playoffs in 2025-26. From December through the end of the season, Nashville was more than good enough to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it was done in by its slow start.

2025-26 Season Month-to-Month Record

October: 4-6-2
November: 4-7-2
December 10-4
January: 7-6-2
February: 2-1-2
March: 7-7-1
April: 4-3-1

Consequently, the long-term prognosis is good, however the Predators need to take another step next season. Here are five keys to the rest of the offseason:

Hiring a New General Manager

It’s been more than four months since Barry Trotz announced that he was set to retire as Nashville’s general manager, but Nashville hasn’t been in a rush to find a replacement. According to NHL reporter Frank Seravalli three candidates, all current assistant general managers, have had multiple interviews for the opening: Bill Scott (Oilers), Brett Peterson (Panthers), and Scott White (Stars).

Former Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald is believed to be interviewing this week. He was fired on April 7 after having been with New Jersey since 2015, and took over the general manager duties in 2000 (first as an interim).

He already has a Nashville connection having played for the Predators for four seasons (1998-99 to 2001-02) during his 17-year career, and was the first team captain in franchise history. We don’t want to read too much into it, but Nashville took it time with this process in part to see who might be available after the season ended, and then quickly moved to bring in Fitzgerald.  

“Nashville knew this was going to a bit of a process,” David Pagnotta, Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Period, said on the Daily Faceoff. “I don’t know if I want to put a favorite on this one, but I think Tom Fitzgerald is up there in in terms of contenders.”

As for the timing on when the Predators might make a hire, it’s possible that the Maple Leafs could force their hand as Toronto is considering some of the same candidates (Vancouver has a vacancy as well). Of note, though, is May 5, the date of the draft lottery.

Other Organizational Moves

When the new general manager is hired, how many of his own people will he want to bring with him and/or hire? Everyone and every team is a little different so there’s no real way to know for sure, but changes could follow with scouting, assistant general managers Jeff Kealty and Scott Nichol, and of course the coaches.

"I'm the coach here today and I'm proud of the work we're doing," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said at a press conference this week. "I'm looking forward to keep coaching until someone says you can't coach anymore. When that time comes, it comes and there's no regrets."

Burnette is 115-108 as a head coach over three seasons with the Predators, 166-126 including his time as the interim head coach of the Florida Panthers in 2021-22.

The Draft

Nashville made seven picks in the 2025 draft, but three of them were in the first round: center Brady Martin at No. 5, moved up to select defenseman Cameron Reid at No. 21 (with Ottawa for the No. 23- and 67-overall selections), and right wing Ryker Lee at No. 26.

With his OHL season concluded at Sault Ste. Marie, Martin was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on Monday for the AHL playoffs. Reid just turned 19, the same age as Lee, who played at Michigan State last season. Both are probably at least another year away.

The Predators will enter the draft lottery in the No. 10 spot and could obviously move up or down a little. The real story is that Trotz has been stockpiling draft picks, with 12 this year (with extra picks in the second, third, fourth and fifth rounds) and 11 in 2027. That’s a serious amount of draft capital for the next GM.

Could he cash some of that in to move up this year, or next? It has to be tempting.

The draft will be held June 26-27.  

Free Agency

Don’t expect a lot of activity, but you never know, especially with a new general manager.

Nashville doesn’t have too many players who are eligible for free agency: center Erik Haula (35), center Tyson Jost (28), and defenseman Kevin Gravel (34). Defenseman Justin Barron (24) will be a restricted free agent.

On the flip side, there aren’t too many notably players who will be available either, however the Predators do have some cap space to work with as the cap will rise to $104 million next season. The really good news for Nashville is it will go from $14.4 million in dead cap (including $6.6 million for released Matt Duschene in 2023), down to $3.6 million, so it’s projected to have $28.5 million in cap space for 2026-27.

It also means the Predators have space for another buyout or two.

Getting Younger

The process has obviously started — Nashville had seven players on various rosters for the 2026 World Junior Championship — but the roster is still almost evenly split between aging veterans and developing prospects.   

On the older end there’s forwards Steven Stamkos (age 36), Jonathan Marchessault (35), Ryan O'Reilly (35), Haula (35), Filip Forsberg (31+); defensemen: Roman Josi (35+), Brady Skjei (32); and goaltender Juuse Saros just turned 31 on Sunday — Note: The “+” means the player have a birthday before the start of the 2026-27 season.

Josi and Stamkos are both signed through 2027-28 and have non-movement clauses, O'Reilly's contract is through next season. If Nashville isn't looking like a playoff team next season don't be surprised if trade rumors perk up.

The player to watch short-term is Marchessault, who had a career-low 31 points this past season. He has a no-move clause, and three more years of his five-year deal worth $27.5 million. The right wing told reporters on Monday that he “was not in a good head space,” and "I didn’t make a difference this year,” but he wants to change that.

Yet Luke Evangelista (24) stepped up and had 56 points this season, and Cole O’Hara (23) made his debut, both at right wing. Center Matthew Wood (21), a 2023 first-round pick, had 30 points in 71 games. Aiden Fink (21) has signed out of Penn State, where he played right wing. Joakim Kemell and Ozzy Wiesblatt were also in the mix at the position.

At minimum, training camp should be interesting in Septemtember.

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