© John Russell

The Nashville Predators return to Bridgestone Arena for preseason action on Saturday when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Saturday night begins the Predators’ four-game preseason slate leading up to the 2024-25 season opener on Oct. 10, against Dallas.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed live on NashvillePredators.com (geo-restricted to in-market viewers only) and can be heard on ESPN 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network with Pete Weber, Jay More and Max Herz on the call.

Click here to get tickets and find out everything you need to know below:

The Good Guys

Nashville’s training camp roster is now down to 56 players – 31 forwards, 19 defensemen and six goaltenders. An updated training camp roster can be viewed here.

Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced Thursday that the team has assigned forward Hiroki Gojsic (Kelowna/WHL) and defenseman Andrew Gibson (Sault Ste. Marie/OHL) to their respective junior teams.

The team assigned Kalan Lind (Red Deer/WHL), Miguel Marques (Lethbridge/WHL) and Joey Willis (Saginaw/OHL); defenseman Dylan MacKinnon (Moncton/QMJHL); and goaltender Jakub Milota (Cape Breton/QMJHL) to their respective junior teams on Monday.
Free-agent additions forward Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, and defenseman Brady Skjei will get their first action inside Bridgestone arena.

Stamkos’ 555 career goals are the second-most among all NHL players since his rookie season in 2008-09 and are the 30th-most in League history. The two-time Stanley Cup champion and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner faces his former team for the time since singing with the Predators on July 1.

Marchessault won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy in 2022-23 with Vegas and is a veteran of 638 career NHL games, recording 487 points (230g-257a). Last season, he led the Golden Knights and was tied for 11th in the NHL in goals with a career-high 42; he also led Vegas in points with 69 (42g-27a).

Skjei led Carolina blueliners last season with 47 points (13g-34a), averaged 21:17 of ice time – the second-most in his career and among Carolina defensemen.

Tonight’s game roster can be viewed here.

The Other Guys

The Lightning named defenseman Victor Hedman the 11th captain in franchise history. He recorded 76 points (13g-63a) in 76 games last season.

Tampa Bay signed forward Jake Guentzel to a seven-year contract in July. Guentzel skated in 67 games between Carolina and Pittsburgh last season, recording 77 points (30g-47a).

What’s Next

The Predators face the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Puck drop from the Lenovo Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

The preseason game scheduled for Sept. 27 at Tampa Bay has been rescheduled for Oct. 7.