2015–16 Nashville Predators season

2015–16 Nashville Predators
Division	TBD Central
Conference	TBD Western
2015–16 record	11–5–3
Home record	6–1–2
Road record	5–4–1
Team information
General manager	David Poile
Coach	Peter Laviolette
Captain	Shea Weber
Alternate captains	Mike Fisher James Neal Roman Josi
Arena	Bridgestone Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	James Neal (10)
Assists	Roman Josi Filip Forsberg (13)
Points	James Neal (18)
Penalty minutes	Mike Ribeiro (40)
Plus/minus	Colton Sissons (+6)
Wins	Pekka Rinne (11)
Goals against average	Pekka Rinne (2.44)

The 2015–16 Nashville Predators season is the 18th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2015 Pre-Season Game Log: 3–2–1 (Home: 2–1–1 ; Road: 1–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 20	Florida	2–5	Nashville		Hutton	15,432	1–0–0	Recap
2	September 20	Florida	3–2	Nashville	OT	Saros	12,711	1–0–1	Recap
3	September 22	Nashville	3–2	Tampa Bay	OT	Hutton	14,324	2–0–1	Recap
4	September 23	Tampa Bay	2–5	Nashville		Rinne	14,186	3–0–1	Recap
5	September 29	Columbus	5–2	Nashville		Hutton	16,027	3–1–1	Recap
6	October 3	Nashville	1–7	Columbus		Rinne	13,795	3–2–1	Recap

Regular season

2015–16 Game Log
October: 7–1–2 (Home: 3–0–1 ; Road: 4–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 8 Carolina 1–2 Nashville Rinne 17,204 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 10 Edmonton 0–2 Nashville Rinne 17,113 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 13 Nashville 3–1 New Jersey Rinne 11,117 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 October 15 Nashville 3–4 NY Islanders Rinne 10,542 3–1–0 6 Recap 5 October 17 Nashville 4–3 Ottawa SO Hutton 16,895 4–1–0 8 Recap 6 October 20 Tampa Bay 4–5 Nashville SO Rinne 17,113 5–1–0 10 Recap 7 October 22 Anaheim 1–5 Nashville Rinne 17,113 6–1–0 12 Recap 8 October 24 Pittsburgh 2–1 Nashville OT Rinne 17,163 6–1–1 13 Recap 9 October 28 Nashville 2–1 San Jose Rinne 15,219 7–1–1 15 Recap 10 October 31 Nashville 3–4 Los Angeles OT Rinne 18,230 7–1–2 16 Recap
November: 5–6–2 (Home: 3–2–1 ; Road: 2–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 November 1 Nashville 2–4 Anaheim Hutton 16,276 7–2–2 16 Recap 12 November 5 Nashville 3–2 Minnesota Rinne 19,024 8–2–2 18 Recap 13 November 7 St. Louis 4–0 Nashville Rinne 17,143 8–3–2 18 Recap 14 November 10 Ottawa 5–7 Nashville Rinne 16,963 9–3–2 20 Recap 15 November 12 Toronto 2–1 Nashville SO Rinne 17,231 9–3–3 21 Recap 16 November 14 Winnipeg 0–7 Nashville Rinne 17,113 10–3–3 23 Recap 17 November 17 Anaheim 2–3 Nashville Rinne 17,113 11–3–3 25 Recap 18 November 20 Nashville 0–4 Columbus Rinne 13,584 11–4–3 25 Recap 19 November 21 Nashville 0–4 Minnesota Rinne 19,056 11–5–3 25 Recap 20 November 23 Nashville 0–3 NY Rangers Rinne 18,006 11–6–3 25 Recap 21 November 25 Nashville 3–2 Buffalo Hutton 17,871 12–6–3 27 Recap 22 November 27 Nashville 2–3 Philadelphia OT Rinne 19,818 12–6–4 28 Recap 23 November 28 Buffalo 4–1 Nashville Saros 17,217 12–7–4 28 Recap
December: 6–5–2 (Home: 5–3–1 ; Road: 1–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 December 1 Arizona 2–5 Nashville Rinne 15,091 13–7–4 30 Recap 25 December 3 Florida 2–1 Nashville Rinne 15,405 13–8–4 30 Recap 26 December 5 Nashville 4–5 Detroit OT Rinne 20,027 13–8–5 31 Recap 27 December 7 Nashville 3–2 Boston Hutton 17,565 14–8–5 33 Recap 28 December 8 Nashville 1–4 Chicago Rinne 21,432 14–9–5 33 Recap 29 December 10 Chicago 1–5 Nashville Rinne 17,113 15–9–5 35 Recap 30 December 12 Colorado 3–2 Nashville Rinne 17,113 15–10–5 35 Recap 31 December 15 Calgary 2–1 Nashville OT Rinne 15,431 15–10–6 36 Recap 32 December 17 Nashville 1–2 St. Louis Rinne 17,882 15–11–6 36 Recap 33 December 19 Minnesota 2–3 Nashville Rinne 17,117 16–11–6 38 Recap 34 December 21 Montreal 1–5 Nashville Rinne 17,113 17–11–6 40 Recap 35 December 26 Detroit 3–2 Nashville Rinne 17,208 17–12–6 40 Recap 36 December 28 NY Rangers 3–5 Nashville Rinne 17,317 18–12–6 42 Recap 37 December 29 Nashville 3—4 St. Louis OT Hutton 18—12—7 43 38 December 31 Nashville Dallas
January: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Win Loss Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 2 Nashville Carolina 40 January 5 Winnipeg Nashville 41 January 8 Nashville Colorado 42 January 9 Nashville Arizona 43 January 12 Nashville Chicago 44 January 14 Nashville Winnipeg 45 January 16 Minnesota Nashville 46 January 19 Chicago Nashville 47 January 21 Nashville Winnipeg 48 January 23 Nashville Edmonton 49 January 26 Nashville Vancouver 50 January 27 Nashville Calgary
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 2 St. Louis Nashville 52 February 4 Philadelphia Nashville 53 February 6 San Jose Nashville 54 February 9 Washington Nashville 55 February 12 Nashville Tampa Bay 56 February 13 Nashville Florida 57 February 15 Dallas Nashville 58 February 18 Boston Nashville 59 February 20 Los Angeles Nashville 60 February 22 Nashville Montreal 61 February 23 Nashville Toronto 62 February 25 Nashville Chicago 63 February 27 St. Louis Nashville
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 64 March 1 Dallas Nashville 65 March 3 New Jersey Nashville 66 March 5 Nashville Colorado 67 March 8 Nashville Winnipeg 68 March 9 Nashville Calgary 69 March 12 Nashville Vancouver 70 March 14 Nashville Edmonton 71 March 17 NY Islanders Nashville 72 March 18 Nashville Washington 73 March 21 Los Angeles Nashville 74 March 24 Vancouver Nashville 75 March 26 Columbus Nashville 76 March 28 Colorado Nashville 77 March 29 Nashville Dallas 78 March 31 Nashville Pittsburgh
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 79 April 2 San Jose Nashville 80 April 5 Colorado Nashville 81 April 7 Arizona Nashville 82 April 9 Nashville Dallas
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player stats

Updated as of games played through December 26, 2015

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Roman Josi	35	9	17	26	0	25
Shea Weber	35	10	15	25	−3	10
Filip Forsberg	35	9	15	24	−3	22
James Neal	35	13	9	22	7	43
Mike Ribeiro	35	4	17	21	5	44
Ryan Ellis	34	3	11	14	8	18
Colin Wilson	30	2	10	12	4	12
Calle Jarnkrok	34	6	6	12	−4	4
Craig Smith	35	7	5	12	2	12
Mattias Ekholm	35	3	7	10	4	20
Seth Jones	35	1	9	10	−3	8
Cody Hodgson	35	3	5	8	4	6
Mike Fisher	24	5	2	7	−2	19
Eric Nystrom	27	5	0	5	−2	12
Viktor Arvidsson	17	3	2	5	2	27
Austin Watson	27	2	3	5	−3	11
Gabriel Bourque	22	1	3	4	0	18
Colton Sissons	19	1	1	2	7	5
Miikka Salomaki	17	2	0	2	2	10
Barret Jackman	34	1	1	2	2	48
Paul Gaustad	26	0	2	2	−2	16
Cody Bass	2	0	0	0	0	0
Victor Bartley	1	0	0	0	−1	0
Anthony Bitetto	1	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Pekka Rinne	30	30	1805:35	14	10	6	71	2.36	791	.910	2	0	1	4
Carter Hutton	4	4	241:01	3	1	0	11	2.74	118	.907	0	0	0	0
Juuse Saros	1	1	58:01	0	1	0	3	3.10	23	.870	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Predators. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Roster

Updated October 30, 2024

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
45		Alexandre Carrier	D	R	28	2015	Quebec City, Quebec
7		Marc Del Gaizo	D	L	25	2019	Basking Ridge, New Jersey
77		Luke Evangelista	RW	R	22	2020	Oakville, Ontario
57		Dante Fabbro	D	R	26	2016	Coquitlam, British Columbia
9		Filip Forsberg (A)	LW	R	30	2013	Östervåla, Sweden
17		Mark Jankowski	C	L	30	2022	Dundas, Ontario
59		Roman Josi (C)	D	L	34	2008	Bern, Switzerland
68		Zach L'Heureux	LW	L	21	2021	Montreal, Quebec
3		Jeremy Lauzon	D	L	27	2022	Val-d'Or, Quebec
81		Jonathan Marchessault	C	R	33	2024	Cap-Rouge, Quebec
47		Michael McCarron	C	R	29	2020	Grosse Pointe, Michigan
82		Tommy Novak	C	L	27	2015	River Falls, Wisconsin
14		Gustav Nyquist	LW	L	35	2023	Halmstad, Sweden
90		Ryan O'Reilly (A)	C	L	33	2023	Clinton, Ontario
13		Juuso Parssinen	C	L	23	2019	Hämeenlinna, Finland
74		Juuse Saros	G	L	29	2013	Forssa, Finland
2		Luke Schenn	D	R	35	2023	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
10		Colton Sissons	C	R	31	2012	North Vancouver, British Columbia
76		Brady Skjei	D	L	30	2024	Lakeville, Minnesota
36		Cole Smith	LW	L	29	2020	Brainerd, Minnesota
91		Steven Stamkos	C	R	34	2024	Markham, Ontario
24		Spencer Stastney	D	L	24	2018	Mequon, Wisconsin
26		Philip Tomasino	C	R	23	2019	Mississauga, Ontario
41		Scott Wedgewood	G	L	32	2024	Brampton, Ontario

Awards and honours

Awards

Regular Season

Player	Award	Awarded
S. Weber	NHL Second Star of the Week	December 7, 2015

Milestones

Regular Season

Player	Milestone	Reached
V. Arvidsson	1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point	October 8, 2015
C. Hodgson	300th Career NHL Game	November 1, 2015
S. Weber	400th Career NHL Point	November 10, 2015
S. Weber	700th Career NHL Game	November 12, 2015
C. Jarnkrok	100th Career NHL Game	November 12, 2015
R. Josi	100th Career NHL Assist	November 17, 2015
J. Neal	500th Career NHL Game	November 23, 2015
P. Rinne	400th Career NHL Game	November 27, 2015
C. Smith	300th Career NHL Game	November 28, 2015

Transactions

The Predators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	To Calgary Flames Conditional 4th-round pick in 2016	To Nashville Predators Max Reinhart
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	To New York Rangers Magnus Hellberg	To Nashville Predators 6th-round pick in 2017
July 12, 2015 (2015-07-12)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Taylor Beck	To Nashville Predators Jamie Devane

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Barret Jackman	St. Louis Blues	2 year, $4 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Cody Hodgson	Buffalo Sabres	1 year, $1.05 million
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Conor Allen	New York Rangers	1 year, $575,000
July 4, 2015 (2015-07-04)	Cody Bass	Rockford IceHogs	1 year, $575,000

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Viktor Stalberg	New York Rangers	1 year, $1.1 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Joe Piskula	Anaheim Ducks	1 year, $600,000
August 6, 2015 (2015-08-06)	Matt Cullen	Pittsburgh Penguins	1 year, $800,000
August 17, 2015	Mike Santorelli	Anaheim Ducks	1 year, $875,000
September 10, 2015	Cody Franson	Buffalo Sabres	2 years, $6.65 million

Claimed via waivers

Player	Previous team	Date
Petter Granberg	Toronto Maple Leafs	November 22, 2015

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 26, 2015 (2015-06-26)	Mike Fisher	2 years, $8.8 million
June 29, 2015 (2015-06-29)	Austin Watson	2 years, $1.15 million
July 1, 2015 (2015-07-01)	Mike Ribeiro	2 years, $7 million
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Gabriel Bourque	1 year, $866,250
July 2, 2015 (2015-07-02)	Max Reinhart	1 year, $575,000
July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10)	Vladislav Kamenev	3 years, entry-level contract
July 10, 2015 (2015-07-10)	Yakov Trenin	3 years, entry-level contract
July 13, 2015 (2015-07-13)	Anthony Bitetto	1 year, $665,500
July 16, 2015 (2015-07-16)	Taylor Aronson	1 year, $605,000
July 17, 2015 (2015-07-17)	Calle Jarnkrok	1 year, $735,000
July 20, 2015 (2015-07-20)	Craig Smith	5 years, $21.25 million
July 24, 2015 (2015-07-24)	Jack Dougherty	3 years, entry-level contract
July 27, 2015 (2015-07-27)	Colin Wilson	4 years, $15.75 million
October 26, 2015 (2015-10-26)	Mattias Ekholm	6 years, $22.5 million contract extension
November 12, 2015 (2015-11-12)	Alexandre Carrier	3 years, entry-level contract

Draft picks

See also: List of Nashville Predators draft picks

Below are the Nashville Predators' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2	55	Iakov Trenin	C	Russia	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
3	85	Thomas Novak	C	United States	Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL)
4	100[a]	Anthony Richards	C	Canada	Val-d'Or Foreurs (QMJHL)
4	115	Alexandre Carrier	D	Canada	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
5	145	Karel Vejmelka	G	Czech Republic	HC Dynamo Pardubice (Czech U20)
6	175	Tyler Moy	C	Canada	Harvard University (NCAA)
7	205	Evan Smith	G	United States	Austin Bruins (NAHL)

Draft notes

• The Nashville Predators' first-round pick will go to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on February 15, 2015 that sent Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli to Nashville in exchange for Olli Jokinen, Brendan Leipsic and this pick.

• ^a The San Jose Sharks' fourth-round pick will go to the Nashville Predators as the result of a trade on June 28, 2014 that sent Detroit's second-round pick in 2014 to San Jose in exchange for a second-round pick in 2014 and this pick.

References