Nashville Predators Talk - 2024/2025 Season

[glenngineer]

Novak, Evangelista and Jankowski have been the only combo that has shown any sense of chemistry the first three games. For whatever reason, it works. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the 2C situation.

Unless McC and Smith come out and are crashing and banging, they serve no purpose in the lineup.

If I'm Bruno, leave the line I mentioned above alone. Figure out, which pairing of guys fits and plays well together. From there, find a complimentary guy to fill the other slot. Not sure what that amounts to. As good as Fil, ROR and Gus were together last year, Fil has been the one driving that line to this point.

Should be an interesting night with Leon coming to town. And soon as I write that I think of the movie "The Professional". For those who know the movie, you'll get the reference. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it. Watch the original and if you have time, watch the director's cut.

Once again, I think the coffee finally kicked in.

 

[Armourboy]

Novak, Evangelista and Jankowski have been the only combo that has shown any sense of chemistry the first three games. For whatever reason, it works. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the 2C situation.

Unless McC and Smith come out and are crashing and banging, they serve no purpose in the lineup.

If I'm Bruno, leave the line I mentioned above alone. Figure out, which pairing of guys fits and plays well together. From there, find a complimentary guy to fill the other slot. Not sure what that amounts to. As good as Fil, ROR and Gus were together last year, Fil has been the one driving that line to this point.

Should be an interesting night with Leon coming to town. And soon as I write that I think of the movie "The Professional". For those who know the movie, you'll get the reference. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it. Watch the original and if you have time, watch the director's cut.

Once again, I think the coffee finally kicked in.

Except Jankowski wasn't on that line in the first two games, just the one in Seattle. Tomasino was on it the first two games.

 

[ShagDaddy]

No team starting 0-4 has ever made it to the Stanley Cup. It’s been a good season y’all. See ya next year.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

No team starting 0-4 has ever made it to the Stanley Cup. It’s been a good season y’all. See ya next year.

Just holding my breath Trotz doesn't do something stupid and trade our 1st. This could be the year.

 

[nullednumbed]

Novak, Evangelista and Jankowski have been the only combo that has shown any sense of chemistry the first three games. For whatever reason, it works. Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the 2C situation.

Unless McC and Smith come out and are crashing and banging, they serve no purpose in the lineup.

If I'm Bruno, leave the line I mentioned above alone. Figure out, which pairing of guys fits and plays well together. From there, find a complimentary guy to fill the other slot. Not sure what that amounts to. As good as Fil, ROR and Gus were together last year, Fil has been the one driving that line to this point.

Should be an interesting night with Leon coming to town. And soon as I write that I think of the movie "The Professional". For those who know the movie, you'll get the reference. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it. Watch the original and if you have time, watch the director's cut.

Once again, I think the coffee finally kicked in.

Nothing is going to solve the 2C problem until Trotz can manage to trade for one. None in the pipeline that will help before these old guys on the wing are done. Upcoming FA centers are also pretty mid unless you want to sign another old dude.

 

[JR303]

How is our puck control so absolutely atrocious?

Can't maintain the puck for shit.

 

[Soundgarden]

As said in the GDT it feels like we're never going to win again rn.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

As said in the GDT it feels like we're never going to win again rn.

Like to think we have a shot with Detroit, but after the first game I'm not confident. Then have Columbus and Chicago coming up that would seem a decent chance. If we can't get one of those, with Boston, Tampa, LA, Colorado...it could be a while.

 

[Byrddog]

It has been a really long time since I was this optimistic about this team going into the season. Of course it has only been three games but it is incredible how poor this team looks. On paper the team should be able to move the puck yet it may be worse than previous years. The team should be better 5x5 and lights out on the PP. You can not secure a playoff position in the first 20 but you can sure dig a hole that becomes impossible to overcome. After 4 games here they sit second to last in goal differential unable to score or stop the other team. Young guys are not going to change this even though Novak has arguably been the best player in these 4. There is enough talent in the top 6 where they should be interchangeable and still perform. Things have to get better , can't imagine how it could be worse.

 

[wmupreds]

It has been a really long time since I was this optimistic about this team going into the season. Of course it has only been three games but it is incredible how poor this team looks. On paper the team should be able to move the puck yet it may be worse than previous years. The team should be better 5x5 and lights out on the PP. You can not secure a playoff position in the first 20 but you can sure dig a hole that becomes impossible to overcome. After 4 games here they sit second to last in goal differential unable to score or stop the other team. Young guys are not going to change this even though Novak has arguably been the best player in these 4. There is enough talent in the top 6 where they should be interchangeable and still perform. Things have to get better , can't imagine how it could be worse.

Couple points

NSH was 5-10 after 15 games last year. EDM was 2-9-1 after 12. So no, the sky is not falling yet.

Tommy Novak will be 28 by the end of this season. We can stop calling him a "young guy" in NHL terms.

Finally, some were wayyy too optimistic coming into this year banking on things like 35yo Nyquist repeating a career year, ROR not declining and Stamkos rediscovering his 5v5 game. I don't think this team is terrible (and hell, all those things could still happen in theory) but there were some expectations that needed tempering. And I was and still am a fan of the offseason moves, or at least the thought process behind them.

 

[Scoresberg]

Have we tried adding more vets into the lineup? Or mindlessly blending the lineup?

 

[Armourboy]

Pretty sure Brunette threw every line combo he could at them lastnight, well except breaking up the top line. Looks like he is going to ride that combo even if it's not doing much.

Nyquist is trying so hard he sucks. Can't keep the puck, shoots when he should pass, passes when he should shoot.

Stamkos contract may end up being the worst this team has ever signed.

 

[King Weber]

grandma stays in the cage until Preds win

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I’m not as pessimistic as a lot of folks around here might be. But it will be quite a turn of events if Trotz’s “All In” blueprint actually instead leaves the team with a top 5 pick instead.

Or a string of them if the “3S” contracts (Stamkos, Skjei, Saros) all stay like this over the next few seasons. Guys like Schenn and Lauzon and Nyquist are probably movable, but those bigger ones might not be.

I just pray if things don’t turn around that Trotz doesn’t panic and double down on this by trading picks and prospects to try to fix things.

 

[Predsanddead24]

That 18 game point streak last season was impressive but it’s doing a lot of heavy lifting for Brunette. The rest of his tenure has been mediocre to bad. I still believe this team is good enough to win but my faith in the coaching staff is pretty low. If our woes continue I’ll be interested to see how safe Brunettes job is. Our window with this group is as open as it’s ever going to be so I dont think we can afford to waste this year.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Things will improve when the forwards find more chemistry. We made a ton of changes up front and on the blue line this year. It's going to take a little time.

But three things clearly are a problem with really no easy answer.

Saros is either injured still or has regressed... that's really bad on a ton of different levels. If he isn't healthy enough to be playing, we need to sit and rest him. Period. There's too much of a financial investment there.

Schenn and Lauzon aren't NHL d-men. I got 0 answers here. It's a problem.

The team is slow. We're old. We weren't a fast team last year and we certainly aren't this year.

 

[beardawg]

That 18 game point streak last season was impressive but it’s doing a lot of heavy lifting for Brunette. The rest of his tenure has been mediocre to bad. I still believe this team is good enough to win but my faith in the coaching staff is pretty low. If our woes continue I’ll be interested to see how safe Brunettes job is. Our window with this group is as open as it’s ever going to be so I dont think we can afford to waste this year.

I'm not quite pressing the panic button on the season yet, even if 0-4-0 is extremely underwhelming after the big offseason.

I wanted to come and make the same point about Bruno. If this team underperforms the whole season and misses the playoffs, he has to be on the hot seat, no?

Again - there's 78 games left

 

[beardawg]

When do we see Kemell, ZLH and MDG?

 

[Predsanddead24]

I'm not quite pressing the panic button on the season yet, even if 0-4-0 is extremely underwhelming after the big offseason.

I wanted to come and make the same point about Bruno. If this team underperforms the whole season and misses the playoffs, he has to be on the hot seat, no?

Again - there's 78 games left

I’d assume he’s out if we miss the playoffs but who knows how Trotz would approach that situation. I don’t even think the 0-4-0 is that big of a deal if theyd been like last season where we were blowing leads. My biggest problem this year is we’ve yet to be in control of a game yet this season. Like you say lots of time but this upcoming 4 game stretch seems really important to get the ship righted since it’s our easiest set of matchups for the next month or so.

 

[Kat Predator]

I’d assume he’s out if we miss the playoffs but who knows how Trotz would approach that situation. I don’t even think the 0-4-0 is that big of a deal if theyd been like last season where we were blowing leads. My biggest problem this year is we’ve yet to be in control of a game yet this season. Like you say lots of time but this upcoming 4 game stretch seems really important to get the ship righted since it’s our easiest set of matchups for the next month or so.

We've had the lead for how many minutes in 4 games? Very few. Fil gave us a lead for less than 6 minutes and that's it. That's well ... not great. (That comes to 2.5%.)

 

[Armourboy]

I get people have patience, but you should probably be panicing a little more than we were last season when we started out slow. These are different losses, we've had a lead all of about 5 minutes through the first 4 games. If anything, things look as bad, if not worse, than they did in game 1.

Saros wasn't bad last night, but something does feel a bit off with him even with him being a bit better. He doesn't seem to be moving as well imo. That's a problem because you can't rely on him to steal one to break a slump.

The one positive from last night is that the number of breakaways and odd man rushes did seem to go down and oddly enough I don't think it took away from the offensive play, our horrible passing, turnovers, and decision making did that.

Edit: and if you want even a little more sliver of something ( hope? ) if not for Ekholm throwing his big leg in the way Stamkos scores on the PP. They finally got it to him and he got it lined up, so I guess thats an improvement?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

That 18 game point streak last season was impressive but it’s doing a lot of heavy lifting for Brunette. The rest of his tenure has been mediocre to bad. I still believe this team is good enough to win but my faith in the coaching staff is pretty low. If our woes continue I’ll be interested to see how safe Brunettes job is. Our window with this group is as open as it’s ever going to be so I dont think we can afford to waste this year.

My question is what constitutes "waste"? If we aren't a playoff team, but make a series of moves in a desperate attempt to make the playoffs (i.e. avoid wasting the year), and it doesn't help... that's going to be the biggest waste of all. :S

When do we see Kemell, ZLH and MDG?

Kemell? Not this season? Unless he makes some major breakthrough in Milwaukee this season, or unless we get absolutely buried with injuries.

ZLH - I bet we see him at some point. Will he stick or will it just be a cup of coffee recall? Coin flip.

MDG - we have to call up a 7th D at some point. Sooner rather than later based on how Schenn is looking. But I guess there are two factors standing in MDG's path: 1) what's up with Stastney? 2) Schenn is RD and maybe Blankeburg is first off the bench to get ice on the right side?

 

[glenngineer]

I get people have patience, but you should probably be panicing a little more than we were last season when we started out slow. These are different losses, we've had a lead all of about 5 minutes through the first 4 games. If anything, things look as bad, if not worse, than they did in game 1.

Saros wasn't bad last night, but something does feel a bit off with him even with him being a bit better. He doesn't seem to be moving as well imo. That's a problem because you can't rely on him to steal one to break a slump.

The one positive from last night is that the number of breakaways and odd man rushes did seem to go down and oddly enough I don't think it took away from the offensive play, our horrible passing, turnovers, and decision making did that.

Edit: and if you want even a little more sliver of something ( hope? ) if not for Ekholm throwing his big leg in the way Stamkos scores on the PP. They finally got it to him and he got it lined up, so I guess thats an improvement?

I hate to use a cliche but this team is not relentless or hard to play against or physical. We're giving up too much time and space. We're not finishing checks. We're not forechecking aggressively.

It's funny, the PK, which usually sucks early in the season has been solid, because of the aggressive nature and forcing teams to make quick decisions with the puck, that have led to few scoring chances. Our 5 on 5 play should resemble this, although I realize it's tougher to do with a larger ice surface to cover but I hope my point is conveyed.

 

[PredsV82]

So we will find out if Trotz is as patient as Poile.
At what point is Brunos job in jeopardy?

 

[weeze]

I wonder what old GMDP is thinking? Hmmm I never went 0-4-0 as a GM and BT made all those (my) changes.