The Steven Stamkos era with the Nashville Predators had been nothing short of a disaster. The Predators signed Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in the 2024 offseason to make a run towards the Stanley Cup, but the only place they ended up in the 2024-2025 season was the draft lottery. Early this season it seemed like the same story, but the Predators and Stamkos were red hot.
The Predators are one point behind the Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings in the standings, with all four teams vying for the final wildcard position. With the opportunity to finally break through with this roster, it would be hard to see them giving up on Stamkos and being sellers at the trade deadline.
One of the best moments of the season for the Predators came Thursday night, when Stamkos recorded a hat trick and helped Nashville come from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Ottawa Senators and close the gap in the playoff race. It’s hard to pick Nashville out of a game with the way they’re playing.
Vintage tempo by Steven Stamkos
Stamkos’ 53 points in 82 games last season were disappointing, but it was his 27 goals that didn’t sit well with Nashville fans. It was only the third time in his career that Stamkos was unable to score thirty goals in a relatively healthy season.
It seemed like the former Tampa Bay Lightning captain was on a regression path after last season’s performance. However, with 24 goals in 50 games this season, Stamkos is now on track to score 39 goals and get back to his top form.
If he can find a way to keep scoring at this point and maybe even cross the 40-goal mark, it would be hard not to see the Predators not making the postseason.
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