The Predators were admitted into the league on June 25, 1997 along with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Atlanta Thrashers, and the Minnesota Wild. They began their inaugural season in the Nashville Arena which was later renamed the Gaylord Entertainment Center. On July 7, 1997 the team's first president, Jack Diller hired David Poile as executive vice president of hockey operations and general manager. Poile was no stranger to hockey as he had served as general manager of the Washington Capitals since 1982. Prior to that he had served with the Atlanta Flames, and later the Calgary Flames, and, his father, Bud Poile had played for 7 years in the NHL and had served as general manager for both Philadelphia and Vancouver.

Poile wasted little time and hired Barry Trotz as the team's first head coach. Trotz was the former head coach for the Portland Pirates, Washington's farm club in the AHL. On November 13, 1997 Nashville chairman, Craig Leipold and, Jack Diller announced its franchise name, "the Predators". Leipold commented that the nature of the game made the name a natural fit, and Diller noted that a predator is one who succeeds and wins. The Predators chose the profile of a saber-toothed cat which was present in the Nashville area in prehistoric times.

Marian Cisar became the first Nashville Predator on June 1, 1998, and was later sent to the Nashville AHL club in Milwaukee. Jayson More, Rob Valicevic and Mark Mowers were later signed. On June 26, 1998 at the Expansion Draft the Predators acquired Greg Johnson and Andrew Brunette as well as goaltenders Mike Dunham and Tomas Vokoun. Later that same day Sergei Krivokrasov, Jan Vopat and Sebastien Bordeleau were picked up in trades.

After the Expansion Draft, the Predators ended up with the second pick in the Entry Draft with a trade with the San Jose Sharks, and as a result chose David Legwand, and outstanding rookie in the Ontario Hockey League. Tom Fitzgerald was picked up as a free agent and became the Predator's first captain.

On October 10, 1998 the Predators played their first game in front of 17, 298 fans, against the Florida Panthers. Despite the 1-0 loss, the Predators responded 3 nights later with their first victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Andrew Brunette scored the clubs first goal and Mike Dunham notched the first victory. On October 31st, the Predators brought Cliff Ronning to the team from the Colorado Avalanche. As their first season drew to a close, the Predators had attracted 644,000 spectators during its 28-47-7 record, and extended the contracts of coach Barry Trotz and assistant coaches Paul Gardiner and Brent Peterson.

In their second season, David Legwand and Cliff Ronning led the club, and newcomers like Denis Ankhipov and Martin Bartek began to make their presence known. Their second season saw the Predators finish with an identical record to their first season of 28-47-7. Their third season saw them finish in third place in the central division with a 34-39-9 record.