Nashville Predators

Central Division, Western Conference · 22 reports in the 2026-27 edition.

The club

2025-26 · 82 games · 212 for, 225 against

How it played

Shot attempts share, five-on-five: 50.1% 14th of 32
Expected goals share, five-on-five: 47.8% 25th of 32
Power play expected goals per sixty: 6.70 27th of 32
Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty: 7.17 18th of 32

Where the record lies

Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth: -10.0 24th of 32
Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth: -4.2 20th of 32

Nashville Predators scored 10.0 fewer goals than their chances were worth — 10 goals of the record that the underlying play does not explain, and it regresses.

Roster shape

Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.

Average age: 30.8; weighted by points
From 33 and up: 41.3%; of skater points
From under 26: 26.7%; of skater points
Homegrown: 18.5%; drafted by this club
Continuity: 64.5%; of last season's five-on-five minutes

The read

the numbers, and the eye

40 goals from a 32-year-old, 42 from a 36-year-old, and 25th in chance share underneath both of them.

The eye and the numbers

Sighted

The book

26th of 32

The numbers

23rd of 32

The two place this roster within 3 spots of one another. Every report underneath was written with these numbers on screen, so the agreement is not corroboration — the arithmetic is on both sides of it.

Both bars rank this club among the 32 in the edition. The report bar is the mean of its players' grades, weighted by the five-on-five minutes each of them played; the numbers bar is their expected-goal share on the same weighting. It counts 20 of the 22 reports on this roster — the rest have no five-on-five record long enough to weigh — and it reads the roster as it stands rather than the club's own last season.

Who the words reach 20 of 22 · 94% of the five-on-five minutes who is left out (2)

The bars above counted every man on the roster with enough ice time to weigh. The paragraphs name whoever they name, and no rule says who that should be — so this says who it was, over the write-up as a whole. Each section below reaches far fewer than this, which is the figure that matters: the section is where the selection happens, and the count sits under each one. The share is of the five-on-five minutes played by the 20 men on this roster who have a measured record.

Not named: Justin Barron, Ozzy Wiesblatt.

Who this names 8 of 22 on the roster · 39% of their five-on-five minutes details

Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.

Not named here: Justus Annunen, Justin Barron, Mavrik Bourque, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Adam Edstrom, Nicolas Hague, Ilya Lyubushkin, Nick Perbix, Juuse Saros, Brady Skjei, Ozzy Wiesblatt, Adam Wilsby, Matthew Wood.

What the Quant Says

Old at the top and thin underneath. Nashville was 25th in chance share and 27th at preventing expected goals, scored 247 and allowed 269, and finished 10.0 goals below expectation, 24th.

The scoring came almost entirely from men past 30 — 42 goals from a 36-year-old, 40 from a 32-year-old, 74 points from a 35-year-old. The starter faced 1,700 shots, more than any goaltender in this edition, on a club conceding the sixth-most chances. 27th on the power play with a 500-goal scorer and a Norris winner on it.

What the Scout Says

A club with three or four genuinely excellent players and almost nothing underneath them. Filip Forsberg has one of the best releases in the league and beats goaltenders clean from the top of the circle, which almost nobody else who scores 40 can do. Roman Josi is still one of the great skating defencemen of his era. Ryan O'Reilly shoots from closer to the net than any regular forward covered here and takes every important faceoff. Steven Stamkos still has the most reliable one-timer of the last 20 years.

The problem is everything around them. The bottom 6 is a collection of men who cannot win a puck by force — Alexander Kerfoot does not try, Jonathan Marchessault never could, Nils Hoglander is giving away 6 inches on every wall — and the blue line behind Josi is heavy, slow and unable to recover. Reid Schaefer is 6-5 and cannot forecheck at this speed. This is a roster with real ability at the top and insufficient competence in the middle, and it has been asking a 36-year-old defenceman to cover the difference.

Who this names 8 of 13 forwards · 69% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Alexander Kerfoot, Reid Schaefer, Ozzy Wiesblatt.

What the Quant Says

247 goals, and almost all of the good ones came from men past 30. Steven Stamkos scored 42 at 36 with 14 on the power play. Filip Forsberg scored 40 from a median of 35 feet, which almost nobody manages. Ryan O'Reilly added 25 goals and 74 points at 35, taking 64 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet — the highest share of any player in this edition.

Underneath them the club took only 47.8 per cent of the chances, 25th, and finished 10.0 goals below expectation, 24th. The young forwards are not yet holding up their end: Matthew Wood scored 17 as a rookie at 20 and sat at the 10th percentile; Luke Evangelista's 44 assists and 74th percentile at 24 are the one genuinely encouraging page. Jonathan Marchessault at 35 posted the 9th percentile.

What the Scout Says

2 shooters of genuine distinction and a supporting cast that keeps working from the perimeter. Filip Forsberg does not need a good look — the release is quick enough that the top of the circle is a scoring position for him and has been for a decade — and the passing has never been the weak half. Steven Stamkos is now a finisher and nothing else, and the finishing is intact. Ryan O'Reilly is the opposite proposition: nobody in this edition works from closer, and the playmaking is the larger half of him.

The young forwards are the reason to read this section. Matthew Wood has the shot that made him a 15th overall pick and the best scoring rate per minute on the club at 20, and he is not yet strong enough to hold the ice his shot chart wants. Nils Hoglander is the rebound the club bought cheaply: 24 goals 2 seasons ago, 5 points in 38 games last, and 63 unblocked attempts from a median of 25 feet that say the ice was decent and the finish never came. Mavrik Bourque took to a low-volume, high-quality method faster than most rookies would. What none of the 3 can do is win a puck by force, and behind them Adam Edstrom is 6-7 and immovable at the net front with nobody getting him the puck.

Who this names 6 of 7 defencemen · 91% of their five-on-five minutes details

Not named here: Justin Barron.

What the Quant Says

26th in even-strength expected goals against, and the reason the whole club is under water. Roman Josi is 36, plays 24:53 a night in his sixteenth season, and put up 55 points — at the 43rd percentile, with a club sinking underneath him.

The 2 men beside him are the problem. Brady Skjei played 1,470 5-on-5 minutes at the 25th percentile; Nick Perbix played 1,259 at the 11th, and the goals went 44-63 against him. Nicolas Hague is 6-6 and 245 pounds — the heaviest man in this edition — at the 36th. Adam Wilsby's third pairing quietly produced the best possession share of any Nashville defenceman, which is a sentence about the top 4 rather than about him.

What the Scout Says

One great player and 5 men who cannot skate well enough to help him. Roman Josi is still the best mover on the roster and the decline shows in the defending rather than the offence — he cannot recover from a mistake the way he could 5 years ago, and he is being asked for 25 minutes a night on a club with no cover behind him.

The rest is size without recovery. Nicolas Hague is 6-6 with a cleared crease and a reach that ends plays before they develop, and cannot recover when beaten, so forwards change direction on him. Ilya Lyubushkin does not touch the puck by choice, blocks a great deal, is a genuine presence in front of his own net, and skates poorly enough that it caps everything else. Brady Skjei is the frustrating one: the skating says he should be better than this, and he moves the puck to the next man rather than through a layer, and he is adequate rather than dominant in front of his own net for a man his size. Nick Perbix and Adam Wilsby are movers who avoid the corners. There is no second puck-carrier here, which is why the breakouts get hurried and Josi gets asked for everything.

The roster

Evidence 16 Full 6 Light 0 No record

Justus Annunen

#29

G · Nashville Predators

Stopped .938 over his last 10, behind the 27th-best defence in the league.

Justin Barron

D · Nashville Predators

A first-round pick on his third club, and no goals in 52 games.

Mavrik Bourque

#22

C · Nashville Predators

20 goals as a rookie, and the 91st percentile behind them.

Ross Colton

#79

C · Nashville Predators

64 goals for and 30 against while he was on the ice, in Colorado.

Jack Drury

#18

C · Nashville Predators

Plus-15 and the 98th percentile, from a fourth-line centre.

Adam Edstrom

C · Nashville Predators

6-7, and 58 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet.

Filip Forsberg

LW · Nashville Predators

40 goals from a median of 35 feet, which almost nobody does.

Nicolas Hague

#41

D · Nashville Predators

6-6, 245 pounds, and the heaviest man in this edition.

Nils Hoglander

#21

LW · Nashville Predators

5-9, 120 points in 300 games, and 5 last season.

Roman Josi

#59

D · Nashville Predators

1,030 games, 25 minutes a night, and a club sinking underneath him.

Alexander Kerfoot

#14

C · Nashville Predators

639 games of doing the useful thing quietly.

Ilya Lyubushkin

D · Nashville Predators

3rd percentile in shot attempts, and 1 goal in 486 games.

Jonathan Marchessault

#81

C · Nashville Predators

5-9, 574 points, and the 9th percentile.

Ryan O'Reilly

#90

C · Nashville Predators

64 per cent of his shots from inside 20 feet — the highest share in this book.

Nick Perbix

#48

D · Nashville Predators

The 11th percentile, and the second-most 5-on-5 minutes on the club.

Juuse Saros

#74

G · Nashville Predators

467 games at a career .9116, and a season at .8935.

Reid Schaefer

#49

LW · Nashville Predators

6-5, and the 3rd percentile in expected goals.

Brady Skjei

#76

D · Nashville Predators

1,470 minutes, and the 25th percentile in all of them.

Steven Stamkos

#91

C · Nashville Predators

42 goals at 36, and a minus-17 that says nothing about him.

Ozzy Wiesblatt

#89

C · Nashville Predators

A first-round pick, 45 career games, and 1 goal.

Adam Wilsby

D · Nashville Predators

15 assists from the third pair, and the best possession share of any Nashville defenceman.

Matthew Wood

#71

RW · Nashville Predators

17 goals as a rookie at 20, and the 10th percentile underneath them.

How they were used

2025-26 · 82 games

Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.