Nashville Predators Talk - 2024/2025 Season II

[Kat Predator]

McCarron and Smith are #8 and #9 in avg TOI/gp amongst our forwards. So indeed, they are 3rd liners. (Sissons is 6th so he snuck into being a 2nd liner I guess).

It may have changed more recently, but Bruno does indeed roll those guys out there when there is 2 minutes to go and we're down a goal. Out of the box stuff, no doubt.

For an extra dose of cynicism: Trotz thinks he can find youngsters anywhere. It's a GM game of chase and dump.

Of course, a team that doesn't want to stay in the mushy middle needs to actually build a solid team foundation through the draft and asset management. A group that will be grow together and develop a winning chemistry. FAs can be used to round out that team, but in a salary cap sport those guys can be budget-blowing expensive and tend to get distributed more evenly across the league.

 

[ILikeItILoveIt]

Man, we're a mess. Slow, older, with some bad long-term contracts and NMC's. EVERYONE is underperforming. Our coach's system seems to take a season to adjust to, with no payoff post-adjustment. Our GM is impulsive and misguided. He's managed to make us worse than when he took over, weighed down by more bad contracts while we're just getting done buying out the last set of bad contracts. Our last redeeming feature, goaltending, is now a weakness with 8 more years to go.

I love Barry as a person, but I'd replace him in the off-season. The story book succession plan from Poile has not worked. Since Barry refuses to see his coach was a bad choice, they both have to go.

I fear we're heading into a dark period for our franchise: the first sustained re-build. Due to bad contracts, we'll have to eat significant $$, draft high for 2 or 3 years, and maybe return to playoff contention in 5 years.

The only other option is to roll out the same team next year and hope this year was a one-off. That's what we will do, which could set us back another year.

I really want to be wrong, but I've never cared less about this team than I do right now. I've missed more than half the games because the spark is gone. I'm taking a match to thousands of dollars as a Day One STHer. I hate to give up on it but they're pushing me.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I guess on the bright side, all the "bad contracts" don't look quite as bad against a $113M Salary Cap.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Man, we're a mess. Slow, older, with some bad long-term contracts and NMC's. EVERYONE is underperforming. Our coach's system seems to take a season to adjust to, with no payoff post-adjustment. Our GM is impulsive and misguided. He's managed to make us worse than when he took over, weighed down by more bad contracts while we're just getting done buying out the last set of bad contracts. Our last redeeming feature, goaltending, is now a weakness with 8 more years to go.

I love Barry as a person, but I'd replace him in the off-season. The story book succession plan from Poile has not worked. Since Barry refuses to see his coach was a bad choice, they both have to go.

I fear we're heading into a dark period for our franchise: the first sustained re-build. Due to bad contracts, we'll have to eat significant $$, draft high for 2 or 3 years, and maybe return to playoff contention in 5 years.

The only other option is to roll out the same team next year and hope this year was a one-off. That's what we will do, which could set us back another year.

I really want to be wrong, but I've never cared less about this team than I do right now. I've missed more than half the games because the spark is gone. I'm taking a match to thousands of dollars as a Day One STHer. I hate to give up on it but they're pushing me.

Ehhh, we're definitely not in a good place now, but I'm not as down on the team's future. We have plenty of cap room, especially with the increases. Some additions are performing like Marchy and ROR. The three biggest needs are:

Trotz gone
Bruno gone
A commitment to play the kids. Either go after young talent or let's give our prospects a chance. We have a top-10 farm, let's make it the priority.

I do think Saros will come around with some better defense. As long as we're not in cap hell, there's always a chance for change.

 

[Armourboy]

I was fine with bringing McCarron back for another season, but you don't sign those guys to multi-year deals. Working hard and playing for that job the next season is how you get something good out of them, and when they have multiple years part of that is gone. Smith never should have been brought back and Jankowski should have been nothing more than an injury fill in.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Ehhh, we're definitely not in a good place now, but I'm not as down on the team's future. We have plenty of cap room, especially with the increases. Some additions are performing like Marchy and ROR. The three biggest needs are:

Trotz gone
Bruno gone
A commitment to play the kids. Either go after young talent or let's give our prospects a chance. We have a top-10 farm, let's make it the priority.

I do think Saros will come around with some better defense. As long as we're not in cap hell, there's always a chance for change.

I don't think any scout would say we have a top 10 prospect farm in the NHL. Not a chance.

 

[Armourboy]

I don't think any scout would say we have a top 10 prospect farm in the NHL. Not a chance.

Not now. I think at the end of last season they absolutely would have.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Not now. I think at the end of last season they absolutely would have.

On the prospect of us drafting high this year only?

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I don't think any scout would say we have a top 10 prospect farm in the NHL. Not a chance.

Not now. I think at the end of last season they absolutely would have.

This one does top pools and adds a team a day. Just did #9 and Preds haven't appeared yet:

NHL prospect pool rankings 2025: Scott Wheeler evaluates all 32 farm systems

Scott Wheeler's annual deep dive into every NHL team's collection of prospects.

www.nytimes.com

Most the others I see have us 12-16. Point stands...have a plan to get younger and develop and play the prospects. Make them the core.

 

[ShagDaddy]

This one does top pools and adds a team a day. Just did #9 and Preds haven't appeared yet:

NHL prospect pool rankings 2025: Scott Wheeler evaluates all 32 farm systems

Scott Wheeler's annual deep dive into every NHL team's collection of prospects.

www.nytimes.com

Most the others I see have us 12-16. Point stands...have a plan to get younger and develop and play the prospects. Make them the core.

Outside of Svech, Evangelista and L’Heureux, who are the young forwards that they’re going to make the core? Not trying to be condescending or anything, just curious who they think those young players are?

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

I was fine with bringing McCarron back for another season, but you don't sign those guys to multi-year deals. Working hard and playing for that job the next season is how you get something good out of them, and when they have multiple years part of that is gone. Smith never should have been brought back and Jankowski should have been nothing more than an injury fill in.

I'm even ok with signing, like, one of them for a couple of years--give the other guys a goal to keep working hard for. But we love handing out multi-years to bottom 6 guys, and have for years. Colton Sissons for 7 years! I love Sizzler, but you know who gives out long-term deals to bottom 6 guys? Teams like Buffalo! (e.g. Girgensons).

 

[herzausstein]

We have a really solid pool but our pool lack that true top end talent that most of the top pools have. Doesnt mean that one of our prospect might accidentally become a top end talent though but mostly they project to be 2nd line 2nd pairing type players. Get a hagens caliber player in this draft and thatd change the perspective some

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Outside of Svech, Evangelista and L’Heureux, who are the young forwards that they’re going to make the core? Not trying to be condescending or anything, just curious who they think those young players are?

I don’t see why Kemmell, Wood, Fink, Molendyk, and others can’t be a part of the conversation. Just need a system that can develop and value them.

 

[herzausstein]

I don’t see why Kemmell, Wood, Fink, Molendyk, and others can’t be a part of the conversation. Just need a system that can develop and value them.

Id also like to see what players like surin, Nilsson, stiga and edstrom can do in the AHL before writing them off.

Anyways... by my count we can lose about 6 more of the remaining 32 games before we are statistically eliminated from playoff contention. Closing in quick

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Id also like to see what players like surin, Nilsson, stiga and edstrom can do in the AHL before writing them off.

Anyways... by my count we can lose about 6 more of the remaining 32 games before we are statistically eliminated from playoff contention. Closing in quick

Let's hope it's a statistically impossible for them to make it in the next 2 weeks