How Nick Perbix, Nicolas Hague will revamp the Nashville Predators' defense next year
Entering the offseason, general manager Barry Trotz made reshaping the Nashville Predators' defense his top priority.
"Last year, we got pushed into our own net a few times as a group," Trotz said on July 1. "I always tell our defensemen to 'sweep the porch.' But you've got to have the defensemen to be able to do that."
Injuries and trades ravaged the Predators' defense last season, losing Roman Josi, Jeremy Lauzon and Adam Wilsby to season-ending injuries, then trading Luke Schenn to the Pittsburgh Penguins. That meant replacing more than half the lineup with unproven AHL defensemen and waiver wire pickups.
Trotz does not want to repeat that scenario going into the 2025-26 season.
"We wanted to get bigger and younger (at defense)," Trotz said, accomplishing that by signing Nick Perbix and trading for Nicolas Hague, two big defensemen under 28 years old.
Perbix, 27, signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal with the Predators after three seasons in Tampa, while Hague, 26, signed a five-year deal worth $22 million after six seasons in Vegas. Both are over 6-foot-4 and think of themselves as "defense-first" defensemen.
The Predators are hoping that these two signings — plus a healthy season from Josi, who was diagnosed with POTS recently — will repair their leaky defense.
How will the Nashville Predators line up on defense in 2025-26?
Josi will remain the Predators' captain, and the team is confident his POTS diagnosis will not prevent him from leading it in minutes as Nashville's "do everything" defenseman.
Hague is expected to play with Josi on the top pairing, at least according to Trotz right now. Though Hague spent more time on the second and third pairing with Vegas, Trotz believes Hague is ready for a bigger role in Nashville and would love to see coach Andrew Brunette pair him with Josi.
Brady Skjei, who is entering Year 2 of a seven-year deal he signed in summer 2024, is behind Josi on the depth chart, handling second-line pairing minutes and taking on some special teams roles. But who does he pair with?
Last year, Skjei and Nick Blankenburg led the Predators in minutes as a pair. But Blankenburg, who is 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds, doesn't fit with Trotz's demand of getting bigger on defense. He played well as a puck-moving defenseman when they needed him but might not be a part of the team's future.
The most likely scenario is Skjei pairing with Perbix, at least to begin the season. With two bigger defensemen on the second pairing, Brunette could play matchups, deploying Skjei and Perbix in the defensive zone, allowing Josi and Hague to handle more offensive zone work.
The third pairing is more of a question. Justin Barron, Jordan Oesterle and Andreas Englund all will play at some point. Then there's 2023 first-round pick Tanner Molendyk, who will begin his professional career this season, but could do so in AHL Milwaukee to start.
Barron, 23, saw his role increase after coming over from Montreal. He is part of Trotz's long-term plan for the defense, so he will play most nights.
Oesterle and Englund are two of last season's waiver wire claims who Brunette deployed only once the season was lost. Unless Molendyk beats both veterans outright in camp for a top-six role, give Oesterle the edge as the more balanced defenseman of the group.
Here's how the Predators' defense should look in 2025-26:
Roman Josi, Nicolas Hague
Brady Skjei,, Nick Perbix
Jordan Oesterle, Justin Barron
Extra: Andreas Englund, Nick Blankenburg
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.