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The Nashville Predators' push for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs is officially over.
After losing 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks on April 13 at Bridgestone Arena, coupled with the Los Angeles Kings beating the Seattle Kraken 5-3 on the same evening, the Predators have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Nashville (38-33-10, 86 points) can finish with no more than 88 points this season. The Kings how have 89 points and can finish no lower than the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Elimination comes after a strong late push by the Predators, who battled with multiple teams for the final two wild-card spots the last month of the season. After a 6-3 win over the Sharks on April 4, the Predators held the second wild card briefly, but then lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Kings on April 6. That gave the Kings the upper hand in the playoff race.
Though it's now over, it was quite a push by the Predators to come close to the playoffs. On Nov. 24, they were in last place in the NHL and had no reasonable path to get back in the race. Then they went 32-20-6 their next 58 games, staying alive up until game No. 81.
Now the Predators' offseason begins with some important decisions to make. First, they must hire their next general manager to replace Barry Trotz, who announced his retirement on Feb. 2. From there, they will decide how to proceed with the rest of the front office and the coaching staff, plus decide whether they want to move on from any of their expensive veteran players.
GM SEARCH: Nashville Predators GM search, latest rumors, top candidates, what to know
Majority owner Bill Haslam set late June as a target start date for the new GM hire, but ideally he'd have the position filled by sometime in May. The NHL scouting combine runs May 31 to June 6, with the NHL draft June 26-27.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators eliminated from NHL playoffs after loss to Sharks
Continue reading...
After losing 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks on April 13 at Bridgestone Arena, coupled with the Los Angeles Kings beating the Seattle Kraken 5-3 on the same evening, the Predators have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Nashville (38-33-10, 86 points) can finish with no more than 88 points this season. The Kings how have 89 points and can finish no lower than the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Elimination comes after a strong late push by the Predators, who battled with multiple teams for the final two wild-card spots the last month of the season. After a 6-3 win over the Sharks on April 4, the Predators held the second wild card briefly, but then lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Kings on April 6. That gave the Kings the upper hand in the playoff race.
Though it's now over, it was quite a push by the Predators to come close to the playoffs. On Nov. 24, they were in last place in the NHL and had no reasonable path to get back in the race. Then they went 32-20-6 their next 58 games, staying alive up until game No. 81.
Now the Predators' offseason begins with some important decisions to make. First, they must hire their next general manager to replace Barry Trotz, who announced his retirement on Feb. 2. From there, they will decide how to proceed with the rest of the front office and the coaching staff, plus decide whether they want to move on from any of their expensive veteran players.
GM SEARCH: Nashville Predators GM search, latest rumors, top candidates, what to know
Majority owner Bill Haslam set late June as a target start date for the new GM hire, but ideally he'd have the position filled by sometime in May. The NHL scouting combine runs May 31 to June 6, with the NHL draft June 26-27.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators eliminated from NHL playoffs after loss to Sharks
Continue reading...
