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

Saturday night marks the start of the Predators’ four preseason games leading up to the 2024-25 season opener on Oct. 10 against Dallas.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 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.

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

The good ones

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

Predators general manager Barry Despite 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 named Kalan Lind (Red Deer/WHL), Miguel Marques (Lethbridge/WHL) and Joey Willis (Saginaw/OHL); defenseman Dylan MacKinnon (Moncton/QMJHL); and goalkeeper Jakub Milota (Cape Breton/QMJHL) to their respective junior teams on Monday.

Free agent signings Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault as well as defenseman Brady Skjei will make their first appearances at Bridgestone Arena.

Stamkos’ 555 career goals are the second-most by any NHL player since his rookie season in 2008-09 and the 30th in league history. The two-time Stanley Cup champion and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner faces his former team for the first time since joining the Predators on July 1st.

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

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

Tonight’s game schedule can be viewed here.

The other boys

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

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

What’s next?

The Predators will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, October 2nd. Puck drop from Lenovo Center is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT.

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