In Nashville, the Predators took the free agency opportunity to sign three experienced players for the next two to four years.
Ryan O’Reilly moved from Blues to Maple Leafs, now on to Nashville
Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn, and Gustav Nyquist were signed this off season to bolster an already competitive roster, and perhaps push them over the hump in the 2023-24 season.
The playoff experience is what Preds general manager Barry Trotz was hoping to add to his roster for this season.
“I wanted to change a little bit of the culture,” Trotz said. “Not that the culture was bad, it just needed a little tweak. I was looking for serial winners. I wanted to allow a path for our young guys to develop and be surrounded by those type of people and have those placeholders in place so we can let that skill, speed, all those things that we’ve drafted, mature and get to a place where we’re going to have a good run at it for a long time.”
Well, that certainly accomplished, and the Predators also parted ways with Matt Duchene, who was signed to a one-year deal by the Dallas Stars. Nashville bought out the final three years of the Duchene contract they were saddled with.
Added to the Trotz culture change was hiring of Andrew Brunette as head coach.
Brunette arrives in Nashville from his previous job of guiding the Florida Panthers to a 51-18-6 when he was an interim coach in Sunrise in 2021-22.
“I wouldn’t say I’m an offensive coach,” Brunette said. “I think my philosophy on how I see the game is I kind of want to dominate the puck, and I want to have it as much as I can have it. I don’t want to chase it around too much, so it’s not really offensive, it’s more, when you have it, keep it, and when you don’t have it, get it back as soon as possible.”
New blood will be introduced into the Predators roster this season wit the slated arrival of forward prospects Joakim Kemmell and Luke Evangelista.
Kemmell iced 14 games for the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL last season with six goals and 13 points for his time there.
Evangelista posted 15 points on seven goals through 24 games with the Preds last season, and added 41 points on nine goals through 49 games in Milwaukee.
Both are expected in Nashville this season.
Goalie Yaroslav Askarov is expected to remain in Milwaukee one more year.
“I thought he had a fantastic year for his first year pro,” assistant general manager Scott Nichol said. “He’s got a great personality, he’s super competitive and he wants to win. As with all young players in the American league, it’s just being consistent on a nightly basis. For the majority of the whole year, he was really solid.”
Forward Matthew Wood will likely ice in the NCAA for the University of Connecticut this season, and defenseman Tanner Molendyk will return to the Western Hockey League.
Both skaters are slated for Nashville in the 2025-26 season.
“You don’t want all your kids coming [to the NHL level] at once,” Trotz said. “You need two or three kids, [then] two or three kids, [then] two or three kids. You sort of need players who can help them through that and then hopefully when different guys’ contracts expire, you can put another piece in. So, we’re set up pretty good that way.”
The Predators are hanging much of their success for the coming season on the departure of several players, and the addition of O’Reilly, Schenn, and Nyquist. It is another example of addition by subtraction. Duchene and Ryan Johanssen skating elsewhere may be the best moves the Predators might have made.
Where the Preds will need a better game this season is from Juuse Saros. The 2022-23 season was not his best
Saros is working on two more years of his current deal with Nashville. There have been rumors of trades in the wind. Nashville is not in a position to be without a number one goalie unless Askarov develops more quickly in Milwaukee.
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