The Nashville Predators will get their first taste of game action ahead of the 2023-24 season with not one, but two exhibition games against the Florida Panthers Monday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla.
The contests, set for 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. CT, continue the annual tradition of preseason doubleheaders between the Preds and Panthers dating back to 2011-12. They will give Head Coach Andrew Brunette and his staff a chance to evaluate players in a game environment after practicing and scrimmaging in training camp this past week.
Of the 61 players attending Preds training camp, 40 will dress and play at some point Monday to give the coaching staff an early look at their options for the 2023-24 season.
Rosters
The split-squad rosters for each game can be found HERE.
Last Time Out
The Preds and Panthers split last year’s preseason doubleheader at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville dropped the first game 4-3 in overtime but responded with a 4-0 shutout victory in Game 2.
Back Where It All Began
Monday will mark a homecoming of sorts for Brunette, who got his first taste of NHL head coaching experience in Florida. In 2021-22, Brunette took over as interim head coach of the Panthers less than a month into the campaign and guided the club to the best regular season in franchise history, going 58-18-6 (122 points) en route to the Presidents' Trophy. In addition to owning the League's best record, the Panthers led the NHL in goals (337) and posted a power-play percentage of 24.4 percent, tied for the NHL's fourth-best mark.
Several Florida skaters established offensive career highs under Brunette’s leadership, including Aleksander Barkov (39 goals), Jonathan Huberdeau (85 assists and 115 points), Sam Reinhart (82 points) and Aaron Ekblad (57 points); Barkov was a finalist for the Selke Trophy and Huberdeau was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team. For his efforts, Brunette finished second in voting for the Jack Adams Award, given to the NHL's top head coach.
Watch & Listen
Both of Monday's games will be streamed live on NashvillePredators.com.
Fans may also listen to the games on 102.5 The Game with Pete Weber and Hal Gill on the call and pregame, postgame and intermission coverage from Max Herz.
