Predators GM Chris MacFarland is taking an expensive shortcut

The Nashville Predators needed a different plan after missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season. New general manager Chris MacFarland certainly gave them one. Whether it is the correct plan is another question.

MacFarland has remade a large portion of Nashville’s forward group by acquiring Ross Colton, Jack Drury and Mavrik Bourque. He also handed out long-term contracts and moved several draft picks and young players in the process.

The Predators are younger, faster and probably better than they were when last season ended. They are also taking another shortcut.

Chris MacFarland did not come to Nashville Predators to wait

MacFarland has wasted little time placing his fingerprints on the roster.

Nashville sent two third-round picks and goaltender Magnus Chrona to the Colorado Avalanche for Colton and goaltender Isak Posch. The Predators then dealt former first-round picks Fedor Svechkov and Zachary L’Heureux to the Avalanche for Drury, Chase Bradley and a 2029 third-round selection.

The activity continued when Nashville acquired Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Dallas Stars for second and third-round picks. Three days later, Bourque signed a six-year, $33 million contract.

These are not terrible moves. Bourque is only 24 and scored 20 goals last season. Drury is 26 and gives Nashville a responsible two-way center. Colton adds physicality, experience and some badly needed bite to the middle six.

There is plenty to like individually. Collectively, however, the trades reveal a franchise that still appears allergic to patience.

Nashville Predators have tried this before

Barry Trotz believed the Predators could force their way back into contention by adding Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei in 2024. It produced one glorious summer of headlines followed by two seasons without a playoff appearance.

MacFarland is not simply repeating that strategy. His additions are younger and should fit Nashville’s timeline better. Still, the underlying idea feels familiar: Make enough moves, spend enough money and perhaps the ugly stages of rebuilding can be avoided entirely.

That is a dangerous approach for a team stuck between contention and reconstruction.

The Predators were not one depth forward away from competing for the Stanley Cup. Adding several middle-six forwards can make Nashville more respectable, but respectability has never been its problem. The franchise has spent years living in the NHL’s least comfortable neighborhood. They are too competitive to bottom out and rarely good enough to make a serious postseason run.

Changing the residents does not automatically improve the neighborhood.

Nashville Predators cannot sacrifice their future for a quick turnaround

Nashville does have a promising collection of prospects. Seven players from its system were selected to participate in the 2026 World Junior Summer Showcase, and the organization added forward Wyatt Cullen with the 10th pick in June’s draft.

That pipeline should be protected.

There is nothing wrong with surrounding young players with established NHL talent. MacFarland also deserves credit for targeting players with several productive seasons ahead of them instead of collecting another batch of expensive veterans.

But Svechkov and L’Heureux were once part of Nashville’s future. So were the draft picks sent elsewhere this summer. At some point, the Predators must allow their young talent to develop instead of continually exchanging potential for the promise of a faster answer.

Nashville should improve next season. That alone will not prove MacFarland’s plan worked.

The Predators have spent too long confusing movement with progress. Their new general manager has changed the route. Now he must show that it does not lead straight back to the middle.