Alex Daughterty of The Tennessean wrote about the thoughts of Nashville Predators’ soon-to-be majority owner Bill Haslam. The story covers Haslam’s thoughts on general manager Barry Trotz, head coach Andrew Brunette, as well as the team’s summer free agent spending spree that has not worked out according to the plan. The Predators currently sit second last in the entire NHL in points after dishing out big money long-term contracts to Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei.
Haslam tells The Tennessean that the organization still feels that it should have spent that money on pricey free-agent acquisitions and says that it would do whatever it takes to keep making the team better.
There is no faulting the logic that the Predators had going into the summer, The team performed well last season with much less talent (on paper) and seemingly felt that some offseason moves could move the team from playoff contender to Stanley Cup contender. However, a third of the way through the season, they sit seven games below .500 and don’t look like a group that is set to go on a run. That being said, a run of good play can change things quickly, just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won five of their last six and are back in the thick of it in the Eastern Conference.
Nashville needs more from Stamkos and Marchessault, who both have just 13 points in 28 games this season. Stamkos’ even strength production has fallen off a cliff as he has just one goal and two assists, while Marchessault has just three goals and three assists at even strength.
Skjei, on the other hand, hasn’t produced near the offense he did last season when he had 47 points in 80 games with Carolina, but the biggest alarm bell on the 30-year-old is the amount he is turning over the puck. Skjei has already matched last season’s turnover numbers with 36 in the first 28 games and could exceed 100 on the year if he keeps up this pace.
“That being said, a run of good play can change things quickly, just look at the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have won five of their last six and are back in the thick of it in the Eastern Conference.”
There you go, the solution for the Preds is obvious…
They just need to scratch Ryan Graves.
Would you say they are making a grave mistake?
@PyramidHeadcrab — Only if they didn’t get a laugh or two from the classic episode of The Twilight Zone, “Mr. Garrity and the Graves.”
It’s pretty surprising how poor they are doing. I know they don’t have too much defensive depth but the names they have on forward and in net, along with Josi should be a solid foundation. Their lack of scoring is shocking. The fact they couldn’t get guys like Tomasino or Tolvanen to produce while there might point something in the organization that isn’t letting these producers develop properly from the early stages.
The blossoming of Fabbri in COL, Tomasino in PIT, Tolvanen in SEA, heck even Sherwood in VAN, proves mismanagement of young players is not anomalous but systemic. Moreover, ANY team that turns over large chunks of a roster in an off-season takes ages to gel again (see: Ottawa); suppose we all should have seen it coming.
I agree with the first part of what you say here, but the Capitals had more roster changes than anyone and they’ve done just fine.
This is a coaching issue.
Maybe – but keep in mind the coach is the same as the one that coached the “overachieving” Preds last season.
Problem is (IMO at least), people link Brunette with the 16-0-2 run last season but not the rest of the teams record apart from that, which is actually pretty bad.
Just tank and call it a year.Youth is what this team needs..
They’re still happy with Brunette huh? the guy can’t even set the lineup right and they’re okay with this? there is way better candidates out there that (could help) get this team going in the short term
Haslam actually said that?
All hope is lost. :(
The team is the second oldest in the league as maybe this production shouldn’t be a surprise necessarily. First off, if management looked into the micro stats of these players before signing them they might have reconsidered their commitment to these signees.
Stamkos for example, has been seeing his 5-on-5 play declining since 2022 & last year he hit the negative in 5-on-5 for the first time in his career. Hence, why Tampa only wanted to sign him to a low end deal as they saw the writing on the wall as Nashville didn’t. Stamkos at this point in his career brings only his leadership & his PP capabilities but otherwise that’s it. He isn’t the elite player he once was unfortunately as Father Time has risen on him & others on this team.
Nashville needs a complete overhaul sooner rather than later or otherwise they’ll be looking ahead at a number of years out of the playoff picture.
Get rid of Brunette, Hire Quenneville, Problem solved!
There isn’t a single skater having a good year for the Preds, so either they all lost their game together over the summer or…..the coaching staff is awful. I’d put my wager on the latter being true.
If you put all of a teams loses in the same column, Which is what the NHL should do, Nashville is the worst team in the league at -14, The league has to get rid of the ridiculous participation point for an overtime or shootout lose. It’s clearly lowering the standards.