Nashville Predators May Be Blocked From Proper Rebuild

The Nashville Predators were expected to be diving into a rebuild two years ago, but went on a crazy run in the second half of the season to sneak into the playoffs. They lost in the first round of the playoffs, but it gave the organization some false hope that the team was ready to be built upon and compete. The core of the team was changed and Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei were brought in, only for the Predators to have a disastrous season.

2025-26 was supposed to be the last attempt at turning things around, and while the Predators are in the race at 17-17-4 because the Western Conference wildcard race is so weak, they don't have a squad that will be able to do anything if they do make it.

There is still time before the trade deadline and certain teams make final decisions, but some teams like the Predators should really decide before. Teams are willing to pay a little extra to get players well before the deadline to get them better acclimated for a playoff run. Nashville definitely has trade candidates, but might be blocked in executing a good rebuild properly right away.

According to Pierre LeBrun, "Steven Stamkos enjoys living in Nashville, so he won't jump at any opportunity to be traded." He has a full no-trade clause for his entire contract that still has two more years left on it at $8 million AAV. Ryan O'Reilly is in the same boat as LeBrun also said, "Ryan O'Reilly sees himself as part of the solution in Nashville and doesn't want to jump ship.

These are two of the pieces that were in trade rumors, along with Marchessault, who would still be willing to go to a contender. O'Reilly doesn't have any trade protection at all on his contract and amidst the top-6 center shortage in the NHL, O'Reilly's two-way ability, scoring ability, and cheap cap hit of $4.5 million AAV for another year, would fetch a great price. But it's tough to move a top line center without a replacement, but hold onto someone like Stamkos and not choose a direction. The Predators may just be stuck in the middle again as they might be a little too good to drop to a point where they can draft a game-changer in the draft this year.