The Nashville Predators had an immensely disappointing season in 2024-25. And one central figure of that disappointment was veteran forward Steven Stamkos. The longer term Hall of Famer signed with the Predators on a four-year contract in NHL Free Agency. It marked the primary time he’d worn a jersey apart from that of the Tampa Bay Lightning in his profession.
Unfortunately, he didn’t show the elite, point-per-game talent he had in Tampa. In all fairness, Stamkos wasn’t a liability by any means. He scored 27 goals and 53 points in 82 games. These numbers are tremendous for many players, but far below the extent of somebody like Stamkos.
This 12 months, the Predators forward made changes to his offseason preparations. These changes haven’t worked out as hoped, though. Through 18 games this 12 months, he has three goals and 4 points. Stamkos opened up about his struggles before the NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.
“This offseason I felt implausible. I used to be more comfortable coming in, it felt great physically. I used to be doing things off the ice that I hadn’t done in just a few years when it comes to feeling really good coming into camp, changing some things with weight loss program and sleep and things like that. It felt implausible. After which sometimes it’s frustrating if you do all those things hoping results are going to come back and so they don’t come,” the Predators forward said, via NHL.com.
The Predators missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs after their big NHL Free Agency spending spree in 2024. Nashville hoped an easy retool could address its issues. Unfortunately, this hasn’t happened. And there isn’t a point in dwelling on what could’ve been.
“I believe obviously things haven’t gone nearly as good as we wanted [them] to,” Stamkos said, via NHL.com. “It’s crazy what a difference a 12 months could make when it comes to the expectations of our group with where we were last 12 months.
“But, truthfully, you’d drive yourself absolutely insane if you happen to keep dwelling on that. … At this point, there’s no point in looking back. You’ve gotten to look forward and figure it out.”