Offseason Roundup: Nashville Predators
Over the next month, theScore's NHL editors will review all the offseason moves for each team around the league.
Stuck in the absolutely loaded Central Division in the stacked Western Conference, the Nashville Predators missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season during the 2013-14 campaign. The club's short playoff drought has apparently caused the Smashvillians to dramatically reevaluate their priorities, and the club underwent some significant roster surgery this summer.
Offseason Roundup
The Predators began the offseason by doing something the club hasn't done in their 15-year history as an NHL franchise: they changed head coaches.
General manager David Poile provided long-tenured bench boss Barry Trotz with a pink slip, and brought in Peter Laviolette - who was on Poile's U.S. Hockey coaching staff in Sochi - as his replacement. Trotz left town in the classiest way imaginable, and has admitted he'll still root for the club from his new office in Washington D.C.
The post-Trotz era in Smashville promises to be interesting, and based on the team's moves this offseason, could represent something of a rupture for the Predators' underlying hockey philosophy.
Consider the club's host of free-agent signings: Veteran center and human playoff repellent Olli Jokinen, and a pair of under-sized skilled centermen with "character" questions like Derek Roy and Mike Ribiero. This might be a bit simplistic, but those players don't fit the usual Trotz-kyite mold one associates with Nashville Predators hockey.
The club also made a blockbuster trade on draft day, sending net-front specialist and volume shooter Patric Hornqvist to the Pittsburgh Penguins (along with depth forward Nick Spaling) in exchange for sniper James Neal. Neal is one of the most feared goal-scorers in hockey, and becomes instantly the best natural goal scorer in franchise history.
Basically this summer was all about adding offense for the Predators, who even attempted to trade for Jason Spezza. The Predators scored just .06 fewer goals than the league average last season, but in a conference with the Dallas Stars, Chicago Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche they'll need those goals to keep pace.
This season will hinge not on the Predators' offense, which is still likely to be average at best, but on the health of players like Pekka Rinne and Mike Fisher, who is likely out until November at the earliest. Another key for Nashville will be the play of young players like Seth Jones, Filip Forsberg and Calle Jarnkrok. Those pieces will have to prove ready for prime time this season, lest the Predators' uncharacteristic two-year playoff drought become extended.
In terms of unfinished business, the club still has to sign RFA defender Ryan Ellis. The negotiations are reportedly rocky, but this should happen quickly now that a comparable player in Daniel DeKeyser has established his value.
Key Additions
F James Neal
F Derek Roy
F Mike Ribeiro
F Olli Jokinen
D Anton Volchenkov
Key Departures
F Patric Hornqvist
F Nick Spaling
F Simon Moser
D Michael Del Zotto
2014-15 Outlook
The Predators seem unlikely to contend seriously for a playoff spot this season, but could be a bubble team if Rinne returns to form and a few things break their way.
Of course nothing is certain in hockey, well, except for the Predators not trading Shea Weber (sorry Philadelphia-based hockey writers, we hear Bobby Ryan is a pending unrestricted free agent though).