‘Very frustrating’: Predators looking to rebound coming off disastrous season

Ryan O’Reilly was downright giddy watching his team’s summer splash unfold from afar.

The Nashville Predators made significant waves in free agency on July 1, 2024. General manager Barry Trotz signed veteran forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault along with defenceman Brady Skjei to big-money, multi-year contracts on the open market.

There was title talk in Music City. Then the games started.

Nashville lost its first five outings last season — all in regulation — before finally picking up a victory. There were moments when a group backstopped by former Vezina Trophy finalist Juuse Saros showed what it could be. Those nights, however, were far too few in a maddening campaign that saw the Predators finish 28 points below the Western Conference’s playoff cutline.

“We didn’t really know what we were,” O’Reilly said this week. “A lot of new faces and lot of feeling it out … maybe thought it would come a little easier.”

Nashville head coach Andrew Brunette said the long off-season included some even longer gazes in the mirror coupled with a string of difficult conversations.

“A lot of decompressing,” he explained. “Our group looked at themselves hard.”

The two-time Jack Adams Award finalist as the NHL’s top bench boss zeroed in on communication between his staff and the roster’s veterans as a key point of emphasis.

“Where we are and where we want to be and how we want to do it,” Brunette said. “It was through a lot of constant communication through the summer that we were able to build a plan that everybody believed in, and where it was both of our ideas. We’re trying to implement it. It’s gonna be hard.

“We know that coming in, it’s not easy, but we’re gonna try to get better every day.”

Nashville is certainly better — and has better vibes — just over a week into the young season, sitting 2-1-1 heading into Thursday night’s game at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens.

“We’re trying to build off the early success,” said winger Luke Evangelista. “We don’t even like talking about (last season) in this locker room anymore.”

But that disastrous campaign does continue to loom large over a group that knows how quickly things can unravel.

“The disappointment last year, we’re using as fuel,” O’Reilly said. “We know there’s no reason we shouldn’t have been competing for a playoff spot.”

“It was very frustrating,” Skjei added. “Everyone in the room felt it … players, coaches, management. It didn’t gel right away.”

Brunette said the team’s mindset was off throughout big chunks of last season after that electric string of summer signings some 15 1/2 months ago.

“The expectations that were so big around us … we just weren’t able to fulfil them,” he said. “We were looking for results and forgot about the process. We’re trying to reverse that — worry about the process first and results will follow.

“No expectations on our group.”

O’Reilly said there’s plenty of pride in a Nashville locker room that looked inward after a stunning 2024-25.

“None of us, especially the veteran guys, felt good,” O’Reilly said. “We knew that we could have done more. Those conversations were tough to have, but needed to happen. We felt that with changes, we could get back and get some belief back.

“That’s what we’ve found to start the season.”

BEHIND THE SCENES

Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis is featured on Prime Video’s “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL” series that dropped recently.

“I’ve never had camera crews follow me into my apartment and film me while I’m doing nothing,” Jarvis said with a laugh at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour last month of his episode. “I got to showcase parts of my life that otherwise wouldn’t get seen. Share a little bit of my story and the people around me that got me to this position

“And then just how the room interacts … a lot of good stuff about our team in general, and how tight-knit our group is.”

RIGHT FOOTE

The Vancouver Canucks promoted assistant coach Adam Foote to the top job after Rick Tocchet’s off-season departure.

Captain and star defenceman Quinn Hughes is looking forward to seeing a mentor grow into a new role.

“I’ve had my two best years with him when he was on the bench,” Hughes, who has one assist through three games, said last month at the media tour. “He’s a good coach, good person.”

Foote and Vancouver own a 1-2-0 record with a five-game road trip set to begin Thursday against the Dallas Stars.

“It’s different being a head coach,” Hughes added. “I’m sure there’s going to be challenges as a first-year head coach that he’s going to face, just like anyone else would.

“He’s prepared for it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2025.