Competition in both the Central Division and Western Conference will be tough for the Predators, and position in the standings at the end of the regular season will determine the path teams take in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
The top three teams in each division automatically qualify for the postseason, while the remaining teams with the highest point totals in each conference earn wild card berths.
With the NHL’s division-based playoff format, teams remain in their divisions for the first two rounds of the playoffs, with the wild card teams slotted based upon their number of points earned.
Last season, the Predators faced the Vancouver Canucks in the first round and would have faced another Pacific Division team had they gone on to defeat the Canucks.
Finishing in the top three of the Central Division would be beneficial on many levels for the Predators, the likely easier travel burden being among the reasons. Last season, the Predators finished behind the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche in a stacked Central.
While Dallas and Colorado look to remain atop the division, Winnipeg could be a candidate to drop out of the top three, opening the door for the Predators to avoid going the wild card route and likely avoiding potential long-haul flights to cities like Vancouver, Edmonton, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
There is the possibility that the Predators could face a team from the Pacific should they finish first in the Central and be paired with a Pacific team in the first round.
Although they are not likely a playoff contender this season, one of the Predators’ Central foes has a new home this season. Unable to secure a deal for a new arena in the desert, the Arizona Coyotes have relocated to the Beehive State and will be called the Utah Hockey Club for this season.
Taking a peek at the Pacific, Vancouver won the division last season, but the Edmonton Oilers ended up winning the Western Conference and took the Florida Panthers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, coming up just short of being the first Canada-based team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.
Edmonton looks to be the class of the West heading into the 2024-25 season, and they hope to match what the Panthers did in winning the Cup one year after losing in the Final.
To say the Predators have struggled against the Oilers in their regular season matchups in recent years would be an understatement. They’ve gone 2-10 since the 2019-20 season. Edmonton’s superstar forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have feasted upon the Predators in their head-to-head contests. Draisaitl has 42 points in 26 games played against the Predators and McDavid has 40 points in 22 games.
The Predators and Oilers have never met in the playoffs. Two of Nashville’s seven October home games will be against the Oilers, so they will have a couple of opportunities to measure themselves against the reigning Western Conference champions.