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The Nashville Predators are loaded with effective veterans. Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg turned in true superstar performances last season, while Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O'Reilly — who are both far on the wrong side of 30 — helped to form one of the league's best lines along with Forsberg. Juuse Saros was a brick wall between the pipes, and he should remain elite with a lucrative new contract under his belt.
A team led by those seasoned players surprised the hockey world by going on a tear in the second half of the 2023-24 campaign, eventually securing the top wildcard berth in the Western Conference. Although it ended in a six-game Round 1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, it helped the fans in Smashville start to believe that this roster can again compete for Stanley Cups after coming within two wins of a maiden title in 2017.
And general manager Barry Trotz got right to work this summer to make the Predators even better. He surrounded an already above-average roster by snagging two-time champion Steven Stamkos from Tampa, former Conn Smythe winning sniper Jonathan Marchessault from the strip, and two-way dynamo Brady Skjei from Carolina to help shore up the defensive core.
Although it's one of the older groups in the league — every player already mentioned is 30 or above except Saros, who's 29 — on paper, this looks like a club that can easily compete for a top-three spot in the Central Division in 2024-25. And that will be even more true if a few sneaky veterans can carve out complementary roles. Here are three such players that can help this team reach an even higher level this season.
Mark Jankowski finished strong in 2023-24
Nashville's top-six is basically set in stone for opening night, with the dynamic trio of Forsberg, O'Reilly and Nyquist unlikely to be separated after a terrific season. Stamkos and Marchessault should assume second-line duties, and they'll probably be centered by Tommy Novak come October, per Daily Faceoff.
Mark Jankowski is likely to assume a spot on the Predators' third line, along with Colton Sissons and Luke Evangelista. With Evangelista dropping down the lineup, and Sissons coming off a solid year with 15 goals, Jankowski has an opportunity to prove be belongs in the NHL full-time with effective linemates.
After scoring 47 points in 40 games with the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals last year, Jankowski joined the Preds later in the season and recorded a very respectable 15 points in 32 regular-season contests. He was also a factor against the Canucks in the playoffs, playing all six games and adding a goal and an assist in the tight loss.
Jankowski looks like he's ready to play a full season in the show, something that hasn't happened since the 29-year-old suited up for 79 tilts as a member of the Calgary Flames in 2018-19. With a two-year contract extension under his belt, the former first-round pick has a chance to be a staple in Nashville's top-nine in 2024-25.
Michael McCarron also ready to prove he's a full-time NHLer
Michael McCarron is in a very similar boat to Jankowski. He's the same age, and was also drafted in the first-round once upon a time — he was taken No. 25 overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2013 NHL Draft.
The 29-year-old has bounced around between the Admirals and Predators over the last few seasons, like Jankowski, but he finally put together a full campaign in the league in 2023-24. He appeared in 70 games for the Preds, scoring 12 goals and 22 points in his first full NHL season. He was also active for all six games against Vancouver.
Now nearly 30 years old, and set to play on the fourth-line, McCarron should be hungry to prove he's good enough to make a difference in Smashville full time. He was a prolific goal-scorer in junior, but the hulking 6-foot-6, 231-pound forward has struggled to translate that success in the sport's highest league.
Still, he has some job security with a contract that will pay him $900,000 in each of the next two seasons (Jankowski is making $100,000 less in both 2024-25 and 2025-26). Along with his former Admirals teammate, McCarron could be pegged to play a full 82-game slate this season, and he has the potential to set career-highs across the board if he is given some ice time.
Scott Wedgewood is locked in as the backup
With Yaroslav Askarov traded to the San Jose Sharks, and UFA Kevin Lankinen being targeted by the Vancouver Canucks (Thatcher Demko might not be ready for opening night), the backup job in Nashville looks to be Scott Wedgewood's to lose. That wasn't the case mere days ago, but heading into training camp, it should be the veteran backing up Saros.
Now, Saros is obviously in his prime, and Wedgewood won't get too many between starts between the Predators crease at 32-years-old. But the Ontario native has put together two respectable campaigns backing up Jake Oettinger in Dallas. He won nine of his 21 starts in 2022-23, sporting a 2.72 goals-against average and .915 save percentage with the Stars.
And although those numbers came down to a 2.85 GAA and .899 SV% last season, he was able to win an impressive 16 of his 32 starts. He even ran with the starting job when Oettinger went down with an ailment that cost him part of the campaign.
Having a good backup is crucially important in the NHL, especially with how many back-to-backs most teams play throughout the year. Lankinen assumed that role in 2023-24, but with the veteran likely to move on, it'll now be Wedgewood.
The Stars have had a great team in each of the last two seasons, but the Predators are also a fantastic defensive unit — especially with the addition of Skjei to the blue line. If Wedgewood can prove his mettle as a backup early on, he'll probably earn a couple more starts to give Saros proper rest down the stretch. This is a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, after all.
