The top 5 Stanley Cup Contenders heading into this season

Nashville Predators

Nashville was the biggest player in free agency this summer. Barry Trotz added Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skjei and Scott Wedgewood. They lost Jason Zucker, Kiefer Sherwood and Anthony Beauvillier.

The Predators have built a very solid forward core, headlined by Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault. I also like some of their other forwards like Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista.

The defence core is solid and is currently projected on DailyFaceoff.com as Skjei and Josi on the first pair, followed by Jeremy Lauzon and Alexandre Carrier as well as a third pair of Spencer Stastney and former Leaf, Luke Schenn.

I'm a big fan of Saros and was hoping he would become available in a trade for the Leafs but Nashville locked him up to an eight-year deal with an AAV of 7.74 million dollars. If Saros plays up to his ability they have an elite number one in between the pipes.

This team is built to win now and I can't wait to watch them hit the ice. Stamkos and Marchessault are both upset with their former teams and are coming into the season with a chip on their shoulder.

Forsberg doesn't get enough credit for how good he is and Ryan O'Reilly is still a good player at the age of 33. I would like to see them trade for another centre but there is time throughout the season to make that happen.