It’s no secret that the Nashville Predators will be going through some changes in this shortened offseason, and it’s going to take creativity from the front office.
The Nashville Predators find themselves in a precarious situation this offseason. They aren’t quite ready for a complete overhaul, but they aren’t prepared for a Stanley Cup Final appearance, either.
The Predators are the proverbial middle-of-the-road team that’s not going to take the NHL by storm, but they might flirt with a wildcard spot if everything falls into place perfectly.
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Youth is the word that we heard quite a bit from Poile. He expects several of the team’s prospects to come up big, mesh with the core group, and make this team a contender.
There are two target positions that I think need attention. One is a top-four defender to pair with Mattias Ekholm. The other is a forward or two to match with Matt Duchene on the second line.
Poile will need to look at acquiring some talent from other teams via trade, or at least remain open-minder and consider everything on the table.
There’s an issue that could make that a challenging prospect. Other than the core group, there aren’t many players that he could trade away.
Poor player performance, large multi-year contracts, or a combination of the two could make any trades incredibly tricky, but not out of the realm of possibility.
With Poile’s “everything is on the table” comment still fresh in our minds, I’m going to offer some fun, crazy, and hypothetical scenarios that could help Poile plug some holes in a ship that appears to be taking on water. Mr. Poile, you’re welcome.