The Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets will both begin their 2025-26 seasons with a Thursday night matchup in Nashville that will also mark the National Hockey League debut of Predators first-round draft pick Brady Martin.
There will be no baby steps for the 18-year-old center, whom the Predators selected with the fifth pick in the June draft. In Wednesday’s practice, he was the first-line center playing with Filip Forsberg, who led the team with 31 goals and 45 assists last season, and Ryan O’Reilly, whose 53 points (21 goals, 32 assists) last season were tied for third.
Martin told reporters on Monday it’s a “pretty special” opportunity to play alongside two Predators veterans.
“I’m just taking tips and tricks from them and, yeah, just learning a lot from them,” he explained. “Playing with them is pretty easy. They just give me the puck.”
Predators coach Andrew Brunette said while the team will continue to evaluate Martin, the rookie has earned the opportunity due to his preseason performance. He scored two goals and assisted on another in four exhibition games.
“We weren’t sure, obviously, a young player that we’re really excited for,” the coach told reporters Monday. “And he came in, and it was hard not to have him on that line and not to have him here today.”
The Predators will be looking to put a disappointing 2024-25 season behind them as quickly as possible. After making a splash in the free-agent market with players like Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos in hopes of making a deep playoff run, the Predators lost their first five games, all in regulation, and finished seventh in the Central Division.
Last season was also a surprising and turbulent one for the Blue Jackets. Picked by many to be one of the worst teams in the league, the 24-25 Blue Jackets stayed in playoff contention until the next-to-last day of the season. They did that despite the sudden, unexpected death of Johnny Gaudreau in an accident before the season.
This season, a Blue Jackets team that’s one of the youngest in the league — their average age of 27.3 is tied for sixth-youngest, according to PuckPedia.com — has an eye on the franchise’s first playoff appearance since the 2019-20 season.
Columbus coach Dean Evason told reporters Wednesday that he hopes the experience they gained last season can translate into better success on the road. While they finished 40-33-9 (89 points), the Blue Jackets were 14-23-4 in away games.
Defenseman Zach Werenski comes off a breakthrough season where he led the team with career-highs in both assists (59) and points (82) en route to a runner-up finish for the Norris Trophy.
One position that has not been finalized yet is who will be the starting goalie for Columbus. Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves battled for the No. 1 spot in camp, but Evason did not divulge who would get the nod for the opener.
In Sunday’s final exhibition at Washington, Merzlikins stopped 20 of 22 shots he faced in a 2-1 loss. On Sept. 30, when the Blue Jackets hosted the Capitals, Greaves made 19 saves in a 4-3 loss.
“Not to look too far ahead, but we have three hockey games in five nights… (The goalie rotation is not) set in stone,” Evason said.
