Nashville Predators Talk - 2024/2025 Season

[nine_inch_fang]

And our schedule has actually been pretty light. The average placement of everyone we have faced so far is a rather mid 17th (using current NHL placement). So youd think we would be doin better. We just went 1-2-2 against a very middle of the pack group.
COL - 17th
EDM - 13th
CGY - 11th
VAN - 15th
SEA - 16th

If that's how we fair against opponents who average out to 14th with no extreme outliers, i cant wait to see how we fair against the next 5 that average out to 9th, with 3 in the top 5.

Average opponent standings spot of a game we won - 21
Average opponent standings spot of a game we lost - 14.5

Highest spot we have won against - 12th
Lowest spot we have lost against - 28th

I liked this because it's good research. The information uncovered by said research is pitiful.

 

[triggrman]

It sure seems like Schenn and Josi run this team.

 

[herzausstein]

It sure seems like Schenn and Josi run this team.

Who runs Bartertown?

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

It sure seems like Schenn and Josi run this team.

 

[Deviled]

Would yall be interested in Dougie Hamilton for Tomas Novak and whatever else is necessary, both ways, to make it work?

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Would yall be interested in Dougie Hamilton for Tomas Novak and whatever else is necessary, both ways, to make it work?

No

 

[Deviled]

No

Fair enough! Lol

Devils probably should keep him because it lowers Luke Hughes' next deals caphit; but moving him toward the deadline would be fabulous as well

Godspeed on the season

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Would yall be interested in Dougie Hamilton for Tomas Novak and whatever else is necessary, both ways, to make it work?

Absolutely I would do that. No take backs.

 

[Top 6 Spaling]

The part that keeps making me shake me head is we are the oldest team in the league. We've got "great locker room guy, cup champion, leader, culture setter" type guys coming out the wazoo. Coming out flat every single night anyway. I don't know how anyone (cough ownership cough) can look at this and blame anyone but the coach and GM - it ain't the players!

As a side note, I do think the "locker room presence" thing weighs too heavily in fans' evaluation of players. We don't know what happens in the locker room, and I'm sure there are plenty of guys that are known as captain material but aren't at all, and vice versa. Let's go get talent instead, for now.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Absolutely I would do that. No take backs.

$9M for another 4 years for another Josi-type d-man? I dunno man. I guess if we can send Stamkos back to make cap work.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

$9M for another 4 years for another Josi-type d-man? I dunno man. I guess if we can send Stamkos back to make cap work.

Hamilton is exactly the kind of D-man we don't have on our current roster outside of Josi. Adding him would be a great get, especially if the price is a maybe third line center on a good team in Novak. You do that trade every day. Hamilton would currently be the team's top scorer (2 more games played).

If you're asking me would I take a true top 4 d man vs a tweener center... I'm taking the d man every time.

Hamilton will only be 35 at the end of his deal. Josi will be 38. Skeji will be 37. I think we can take Hamilton on with no issue. If we can dump Carrier in doing so, even better.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Hamilton is exactly the kind of D-man we don't have on our current roster outside of Josi. Adding him would be a great get, especially if the price is a maybe third line center on a good team in Novak. You do that trade every day. Hamilton would currently be the team's top scorer (2 more games played).

If you're asking me would I take a true top 4 d man vs a tweener center... I'm taking the d man every time.

Hamilton will only be 35 at the end of his deal. Josi will be 38. Skeji will be 37. I think we can take Hamilton on with no issue. If we can dump Carrier in doing so, even better.

I don't really rate Novak but just feels like more of the wrong direction. And if a team with aspirations like the Devils is looking to trade him at a seemingly pretty bad loss, feels like the wheels are about to fall off like ol' Stevie. And another defenseman that...isn't that great at actual defense.

But your points are fair for sure.

 

[GoldOnGold]

The collective self-confidence of this team seems really low. There were numerous opportunities last night to shoot the puck from dangerous areas but instead often they just carried the puck behind the Kraken net. Like, shoot the freaking thing, man!

We might suck in almost every stat, but I bet we're up there in laps around the opponent's net/60!

And the thing about this team is maybe the big signings were always going to disappoint. But I have a hard time believing that the current performance is the best a coach could get out of this roster - Forsberg, O'Reilly, Stamkos, Marchy, Josi, Saros.

 

[herzausstein]

Personally think getting another dman with an expensive contract and trade protection that is over the age of 30 would be a mistake. Honestly, i think continuing to double down on this roster is a mistake.

 

[Kat Predator]

Personally think getting another dman with an expensive contract and trade protection that is over the age of 30 would be a mistake. Honestly, i think continuing to double down on this roster is a mistake.

The plan of assembling a roster of serial winners and building a winner's culture is failing in spectacular fashion. We're the worst team in the entire league (and about to play the best team in the entire league). What's more we don't like to play our young players, so even if we weren't garbage the culture myth wasn't serious anyway. In practice, it's become a revolving door of punishing young players and depressing their ice time while rewarding the winners, guys Trotz knows, who are playing bad hockey game in and game out. It's become about sticking with a loser system for players that can't play it, selling it as something to make you feel good, and letting the stench of this culture rub off on a future that rots on the vine.

 

[ShagDaddy]

Enough with the 30+ year old players. Trotz shouldn’t be looking at any player over the age of 25/26.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

And the thing about this team is maybe the big signings were always going to disappoint. But I have a hard time believing that the current performance is the best a coach could get out of this roster - Forsberg, O'Reilly, Stamkos, Marchy, Josi, Saros.

There might also be a pure financial aspect to this situation?

I don't know how Trotz sold all the expenditures to "The Board"? Our past ownership group has always been very hands off, and none of us has any inkling of what the transition to Haslam really looks like.

But Trotz is spending real $$$ like crazy. Our total player outlay for this year might be over $100M? I'm too lazy to add it up, but we've got front loads and signing bonuses up the wazoo for the new guys. Plus paying Duchene almost $6M. And then Saros is getting a bonus and almost $11M next year. We are spending Big Time money, maybe in the absolute upper echelon of real money outlay in the entire league?

I don't know what money we're paying Bruno either. But there is some real money attached to that hiring as well, which we're going to be on the hook for, even if we fire him. Some coach contracts are reported, and CapFriendly used to track those, but it was always hit-and-miss. All we know is we signed Brunette on a 4-year deal. Likely around $10M total? But that's just a WAG. It's still more "real money" we'd have to continue to pay if he was fired. In the midst of an already probably tight financial outlay.

With that kind of money down, maybe there are non-hockey reasons why a GM could be under the gun to deliver something or double down on an approach? A "shrug - take the lottery pick and retool" attitude might not go over well at an ownership level?

 

[Armourboy]

There might also be a pure financial aspect to this situation?

I don't know how Trotz sold all the expenditures to "The Board"? Our past ownership group has always been very hands off, and none of us has any inkling of what the transition to Haslam really looks like.

But Trotz is spending real $$$ like crazy. Our total player outlay for this year might be over $100M? I'm too lazy to add it up, but we've got front loads and signing bonuses up the wazoo for the new guys. Plus paying Duchene almost $6M. And then Saros is getting a bonus and almost $11M next year. We are spending Big Time money, maybe in the absolute upper echelon of real money outlay in the entire league?

I don't know what money we're paying Bruno either. But there is some real money attached to that hiring as well, which we're going to be on the hook for, even if we fire him. Some coach contracts are reported, and CapFriendly used to track those, but it was always hit-and-miss. All we know is we signed Brunette on a 4-year deal. Likely around $10M total? But that's just a WAG. It's still more "real money" we'd have to continue to pay if he was fired. In the midst of an already probably tight financial outlay.

With that kind of money down, maybe there are non-hockey reasons why a GM could be under the gun to deliver something or double down on an approach? A "shrug - take the lottery pick and retool" attitude might not go over well at an ownership level?

It might not go over well but at a certain point you gotta bite the bullet and get good young talent, and in the NHL that pretty much means you gotta suck. This isn't the NFL draft where you can have a reasonable expectation of finding guys in the 1st 4 rounds. Pretty much once you get out of the top 10 most seasons it's all just a lot of hoping.

 

[drwpreds]

We are now dead last in the entire league after 20 games. We are behind:
Blackhawks
Canadiens
Sharks
Utah
Blue Jackets
Red Wings

Last night Hawks beat Florida
Jackets got down 3-0 in the first period to TB, but came back and scored 7 goals and won the game. 100% had we gone down 3-0 in a game it would have been a 6-1 loss at best. Jackets showed more toughness and spark in one game than we've had an entire season so far.

This is my biggest issue with the situation we are in and why I am 100% on board with cleaning house with the coaching staff. NONE of those teams above's rosters are even close to our roster. There is absolutely zero excuse to be where we are. Completely embarrassing and if Trotz just sits by and does nothing then I am seriously questioning him as well, especially since he constructed this roster and hired the coach

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

It might not go over well but at a certain point you gotta bite the bullet and get good young talent, and in the NHL that pretty much means you gotta suck. This isn't the NFL draft where you can have a reasonable expectation of finding guys in the 1st 4 rounds. Pretty much once you get out of the top 10 most seasons it's all just a lot of hoping.

It's written in the stars though, we're going to get a top pick in a shitty draft where the top pick tops out as a David Legwand (all respect #11).

 

[Viqsi]

The plan of assembling a roster of serial winners and building a winner's culture is failing in spectacular fashion. We're the worst team in the entire league (and about to play the best team in the entire league). What's more we don't like to play our young players, so even if we weren't garbage the culture myth wasn't serious anyway. In practice, it's become a revolving door of punishing young players and depressing their ice time while rewarding the winners, guys Trotz knows, who are playing bad hockey game in and game out. It's become about sticking with a loser system for players that can't play it, selling it as something to make you feel good, and letting the stench of this culture rub off on a future that rots on the vine.

That's a lot harsher than I'm normally thinking, but yeah, in darker moments I've gone there.

 

[Viqsi]

Jackets got down 3-0 in the first period to TB, but came back and scored 7 goals and won the game. 100% had we gone down 3-0 in a game it would have been a 6-1 loss at best. Jackets showed more toughness and spark in one game than we've had an entire season so far.

The crazy thing is, last year and the years before your 6-1 prediction would have been the Jackets as well. Indeed, at the start of the second period my first thought was "I'll bet we end this period 6-1." (Then Voronkov and KJ scored and I was all "I HAVE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER TO BE SO HOPELESSLY WRONG" ). I nearly turned the game off after 3-0 but didn't because of a silly joke to myself along the lines of "Spotted the Bolts a 3-0 lead in the 1st and it looks totally hopeless? We've got 'em right where we want 'em."

It's weird because I don't and normally wouldn't think of Brunette as the sort of guy who would induce this kind of malaise, but... what's happening is happening.

 

[wmupreds]

It's written in the stars though, we're going to get a top pick in a shitty draft where the top pick tops out as a David Legwand (all respect #11).

Gosh, we could really use a David Legwand right now. But point taken.

 

[bdub24]

First 5: 0-5-0 (0 points)
2nd 5: 3-1-1 (7 points)
3rd 5: 2-3-0 (4 points)
4th 5: 1-2-2 (4 points)

Next 5 games (current NHL point standing)
WPG (1st)
NJD (6th)
PHI (22nd)
TBL (14th)
MIN (4th)

I think we will be lucky to get another 4 points out of that. In terms of the first 25 games of the season, i think we peaked in games 6-10.

This right here is why I don’t think the jets game is going to be the straw that breaks the Burnette. A firing decision about coaching THIS team against the number one team? That dog don’t hunt.

 

[Soundgarden]

Apparently Evangelista and McCarron got into it at practice.