General Manager David Poile summarizes what he saw as Nashville's three biggest struggles that were the catalysts for a chain of changes at the end of the season and coming up this offseason.
General Manager David Poile summarizes what he saw as Nashville's three biggest struggles that were the catalysts for a chain of changes at the end of the season and coming up this offseason.
After a season with more twists and turns than most NHL teams saw in 2022-2023, retiring General Manager David Poile sat down to discuss the state of the Nashville Predators. As the players cleaned out their lockers without playing a game in the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons, Poile addressed the media.
Summarizing the Predators last 82 games was no easy task.
"When we entered the start of this season, I think we were all very optimistic based on having all our core players back, the emergence of some of our younger players last year, the additions of some veteran players like Ryan McDonagh and Nino Niederreiter," Poile opened by saying.
"Having said that, our first fifty games or so were not what we had hoped."
Poile went on to outline what he saw as Nashville's biggest challenges in the first fifty games. While injuries down the stretch affected the team's success, those three strikes - even strength scoring, the power play, and top players underperforming - ultimately resulted in the Predator being out of the 2022-2023 postseason.
Even Strength Scoring
When it came to expected goals at 5 on 5, Nashville landed at the bottom of the league with teams like Anaheim, Columbus, Montreal, Chicago, St. Louis and Arizona.
The Nashville Predators struggled to score at even strength despite adding Nino Niederreiter specifically to boost top six scoring, and the Preds ranked near the bottom of the league at five on five play when all was said and done. According to moneypuck.com, Nashville finished the regular season 24th in shot attempts and 25th in shooting percentage on shots on goal. The Preds weren't generating as many chances as their opponents and, more importantly, couldn't finish on the chances they had.
The Power Play
It wasn't just 5 v 5 where Nashville struggled this season. The Predators' power play took a nose dive after finishing the 2021-2022 season tied for fifth best PP% with 24.4%. A big reason for last season's success? The play of Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Johansen on the man advantage jettisoned the Preds to near the top of the league in '21-'22.
This season was a whole different story. The team struggled at times to establish possession in the offensive zone and then finish on quality chances.
The Preds had a stretch early in 2023 in which they climbed out of that power play hole, but that success was interrupted by injuries and another issue that plagued the Predators the season - a lack of consistency. Nashville's top players weren't immune to inconsistency either.
Top Players Not at the Top of Their Game
The 2021-2022 season saw career stats from Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Mikael Granlund, and Ryan Johansen as well as a breakout year for young Tanner Jeannot. This season? Not so much. While Duchene, Forsberg, and Josi each suffered injuries down the stretch, the statistics weren't heading in the previous season's direction before that.
With the surprising success of many of the young players who stepped in at the end of the season, the pressure will be on the veterans this offseason. Incoming General Manager Barry Trotz was frank when talking about what the veterans would be facing this offseason and in training camp.
"There's a closer divide between your talented older players and young players," Trotz said. "Some of the older players may not get some of the minutes that they did in the past, so they've got to sort of remake themselves a little bit and find their role."
Key veterans - Forsberg, Duchene, Johansen, and Josi - are coming off of injuries so the challenges of their offseason will involve healing and recovery as well as refining their game going into training camp. If the Predators hope to build around a core that has proven they can produce in the past, these four players will need to show they can still produce in the the future.
Related Reading:
Top Predators Storylines 2022-23: That Wild Trade Deadline