Anyway you look at it, the Nashville Predators have not been an effective team with Barry Trotz at general manager. Just over a week ago, my colleague, Jeff Hawkins wrote a piece titled: “NHL Coaching Hit Seat: Nashville Predators GM Barry Trotz Backs Andrew Brunette.” There is no doubt that Brunette is on the hot seat in the state of Tennessee, but he is not the only one. The Predators general manager is on the hot seat too, and his seat is hotter than a prototypical Tennessee summer.
Trotz’s record as a GM
The Predators have not been an effective team since Trotz took over from the retired David Poile as the Predators general manager on July 1, 2023. In that time, the Predators have had a record of 86 wins, 87 losses and 17 losses in extra time. Remember, this was expected to be a Predators team that was supposed to challenge for the Stanley Cup last season, and completely missed the playoffs. Then this year, things have not been too much better whatsoever. In fact, it is worse. The Predators are tied with the Calgary Flames for the fewest points in the NHL with 22.
Great head coach
In order to fix things in Nashville, it would not be a shock to see Barry Trotz fire Brunette and replace Brunette with himself. We saw something similar with the Edmonton Oilers when Glen Sather was at the helm in the 1990s. The difference was that Sather was a great GM and head coach during his time in Edmonton. Just how good of a coach was Trotz? Well he had 914 wins as a coach, had 14 playoff appearances, and won the Stanley Cup while coaching the Washington Capitals in 2018. Trotz also coached the Portland Pirates to the Calder Cup title in 1994.
Why have the Predators been struggling?
The top reason is terrible defensive play from the top six scorers. Last season, Filip Forsberg was a -27, Jonathan Marchessault was a -29, Steven Stamkos was a -36, Ryan O’Reilly was a -23, Roman Josi was a -26 and Brady Skjei was a -24. It is safe to say the signings by Trotz of Marchessault (five years, $27.5 million), Stamkos (four years, $32 million), O’Reilly (four years, $18 million), and Skjei (seven years, $49 million) have been complete busts. The Predators are not playing collectively well as a unit, and as a result they are not generating the most important statistic in the National Hockey League–victories. If the Predators do not make an immediate rise up the standings, the person responsible of building the Predators to win now, could lose his job.
