Although the Nashville Predators were not expected to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023-24 after missing the year before, the Preds went on an incredible run in the second half of the season. Nashville won 16 games in 18 tries to put the hockey world on notice, eventually finishing 47-30-5 and occupying the top wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Although it ended in a six-game defeat to the Vancouver Canucks in Round 1, this roster got a huge makeover this offseason with the additions of Jonathan Marchessault, Steven Stamkos and Brady Skjei in free agency.
On paper, the Predators already look miles better than last year, with a terrific top line of Ryan O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist now well-supported with two Stanley Cup champions in Marchessault and Stamkos on line two. Of course, both snipers will play on the top powerplay unit, and the veterans should help this club easily advance to the postseason again come April of 2025.
Marchessault is coming off a career regular-season that saw the former ‘Golden Misfit' score a career-best 42 goals along with 69 points over a full 82-game slate with the Vegas Golden Knights. Here are a couple of bold predictions for the French-Canadian ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Jonathan Marchessault scores 40 goals for 2nd straight year
No, Marchessault will not be playing with superstar center Jack Eichel next season. And he is now 33-years-old. But the undrafted winger showed flashes of brilliance with the Knights last season, en route to his first 40-goal campaign. He had never scored more than 30 previously, which happened once in 2021-22 and once as a member of the Florida Panthers in 2016-17.
But Marchessault will have something to prove on a new team in 2024-25, especially with a Predators squad that has never won a Stanley Cup after entering the league in 1998. He will also have a future Hall of Famer to play with in Stamkos, who himself just had another phenomenal year with 40 goals and 81 points in 79 games.
Marchessault and Stamkos on a line together should be electric, but Nashville's man advantage unit is also looking deadly with the duo set to be joined by Forsberg, O'Reilly and former Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi. This roster has something to prove next year, and Marchessault should be a focal point of the offense.
Marchessault reaches point-per-game while playing with Steven Stamkos
It's not easy to play at a point-per-game clip in the National Hockey League; Marchessault has never done it since breaking into the league back in 2012. He was close in Vegas' inaugural season in 2017-18, scoring 27 goals and 75 points in 77 contests. And while it is certainly bold to predict that he'll finally be able to do that in Smashville, he'll have a linemate in Stamkos who hasn't been under a point-per-game in a full season in almost a decade.
Although Stamkos is 34, he still projects as a superstar at the NHL level, and it'll be intriguing to see how he fares without Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point moving forward. But a combination of Marchessault and Stamkos, who combined for 82 goals last year, is a salivating prospect. The powerplay group also projects to be deadly, with Forsberg coming off an incredible campaign and Josi still one of the best offensive defensemen in the game.
The underrated third part of the second line is Tommy Novak, who scored a respectable 45 points in 71 games in his second full season but is just one year removed from an excellent campaign. The 27-year-old scored 43 points in just 51 games in 2022-23, and that was with linemates nowhere near the quality of Stamkos and Marchessault. If the trio can find some chemistry, there's no reason why all three couldn't hover around a point-per-game pace in 2024-25.
Marchessault helps Predators secure top-3 Central Division finish
Although it was a wildcard finish for the Predators last season, they should remain competitive with the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars at the top of the Central Division next year. Nashville got a lot better this summer, and the same argument can't really be made for any of the Avs, Jets and Stars.
The Preds should have no trouble finishing ahead of the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks if the stars align, and that's especially true with the injection of Skjei on the back end and Juuse Saros locked up on an eight-year extension. This roster is looking deep at all three positions, and it's pretty clear cut that no team in the Central improved as much as the Predators did this summer.
The marquee adds were Stamkos and Marchessault, though, and general manager Barry Trotz and the front office are banking that the two veteran champions can help bring similar success to Tennessee that they enjoyed in Tampa Bay and Las Vegas, respectively.
If nothing else, watching the two on the same team — and same line — will be a ton of fun, if it does take some getting used to. Both players will be ultra-motivated to win a Stanley Cup in a city that has never captured one, especially in a building as raucous as Bridgestone Arena. Whether the Predators are ready to compete for a championship is still unknown, but one thing is for sure: this is going to be a very, very tough out in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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