The Nashville Predators had a good training camp.
A great one, even, considering the truncated schedule and the amount of work that needed to get done in just 11 days.
But on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena, once the Preds had lost to the Carolina Hurricanes by a 6-0 final to conclude their four-game preseason schedule, Head Coach Andrew Brunette knew something wasn’t right.
“Pretty much everything,” Brunette said Saturday when asked what his club needs to fix before Opening Night. “It was a real disappointing game for our group, especially knowing the importance of it. I thought it was a really good camp. I thought today we just didn't have any energy, and we didn't put much of an effort in.”
So, on Sunday morning at Centennial Ice Rink, the Predators spent the first 25 minutes of their practice by simply listening to the coaching staff explain, teach and answer questions in all three zones of what needed to be better before a single puck was shot.
And that was exactly what was needed to get everything back in order.
“It's a short camp, and we’ve had a lot of moving parts,” Brunette said Sunday. “It's been hard to get flow with the lineup and all those kinds of different things because there's some competition with a bunch of different positions, and we just want to make sure we're all on the same page in each zone. So, we kind of walked through each zone, so there's no excuses going forward. I thought some of our details last night were a little disappointing, so we want to make sure we're crystal clear on the details at the start of practice. And in the practice, I praised them for coming out, putting the effort in. I thought they worked way harder today than last night, and that's that effort and work ethic we need going forward.”
Brunette also addressed the assignment of Brady Martin to the Milwaukee Admirals as the Predators continue to trim down their roster.
Martin, who made the Opening Night roster out of camp last season after being picked fifth overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, will start this campaign in the AHL, but that’s not a bad thing in the slightest.
“I think just kind of get him going,” Brunette said of the move with Martin. “He’s been a center-ice man, and we're pretty full in the center position right now. So, we wanted him to go down and play center and see how he does, and get some reps, play big minutes, touch pucks. Especially as a young player here, we don't want to stunt his development by him not playing a lot of games and a lot of minutes right now.”
Brunette says the Preds considered playing Martin at wing as well, but regardless of the position, further development in the AHL for the 19-year-old turned out to be the best decision at this juncture.
“We had a deeper team this year, especially up front, and I thought he had a good camp, as expected,” Brunette said of Martin. “Obviously, last year he had a great camp, [and that] was probably the difference. This year, with how short it was, I thought the start of his camp wasn't great. I thought he got a little bit better as we got going, and obviously his exhibition games were pretty good. But again, it’s a young player that we‘ve got to make sure we develop the right way. And when he plays here, we want him to be an impactful player, not just somebody in the middle of the lineup.”
On Sunday, the St. Louis Blues claimed defenseman Justin Barron on waivers from the Predators. Defenseman William Trudeau practiced with the Preds on Sunday after Nashville claimed him from the Rangers on Saturday.
Nashville’s roster must be down to at least 23 players by 4 p.m. CT on Monday ahead of Opening Night on Thursday.
