Behind the Bench: Possible Futures for Nashville Predators

It isn’t lost on Nashville Predators fans that there are many many issues for the 2021 version of the team.

Whether it’s the team assembled, or the system they’re playing in, something just isn’t right. It’s one thing for it to be a down year, but another when the team looks like a full on implosion, only competitive when it’s too little too late, and losing to teams it should be able to beat, or at the least, compete with.

Say what you want about the roster, but it contains players who have had a decent amount of success at the NHL level, and some very talented youth that have achieved at every other level prior to their arrival in Nashville.

One question posed by the Predlines writers after Thursday night’s loss to the Florida Panthers, is “What is John Hynes saying in the locker room to try and right the ship?” However, the follow-up question that was posed is even more intriguing: “What if it doesn’t matter what he says, because the team isn’t listening?”

To be clear, we’re not in the locker room. We don’t know what is or isn’t being said. But, when the only consistency you see, night in and night out, is the same mistakes seemingly being committed over and over again, bad habits not being broken, and what I would say is a roster underachieving (more so than lacking talent), it has to fall on someone, and more often than not, that someone is the head coach.

I don’t know what Hynes’ future looks like, but based on the current trajectory of a once consistent and successful franchise hungry to reach the pinnacle of professional hockey, I don’t see him being the guy to get them there.

So, let’s explore some options if the Nashville Predators were to make a change behind the bench.

The Nashville Predators’ “In-House” Candidate

Much of the discussion during the offseason before the 2021 season was the expectation of seeing a “youth movement” for the Nashville Predators.

Originally, that youth movement never manifested during the onset of the season. However, due to injuries, lack of production, or a combination of the two, the youth have made their mark.

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Eeli Tolvanen is now a top-line winger for the team and on the first power play unit, Mathieu Olivier is making a name for himself as a bruiser, and other young players are getting opportunities we thought they should have had going into the season.

If the “youth movement” is to be embraced, and a coaching change is inevitable, why not give a chance to the person who has guided their development as of late: Karl Taylor.

Taylor made a name for himself as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Texas Stars, and was named Head Coach of the Admirals prior to the 2018-2019 season.

During his first season, the team went 36-24 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. However, during his second season, and prior to the pandemic shutdown, the team boasted a record of 41-14 with 8 overtime losses, and were the odds on favorites to win the Calder Cup. He was named the 2019-2020 AHL’s Coach of the Year, and rightfully so, and he’s already on our staff.

Because the Admirals opted out of the season, Taylor is available, but it is worth noting the success his players are having with the Chicago Wolves.

If the Nashville Predators were to make a change, Taylor would be a familiar face, and one the talented youth feel comfortable playing for.

The Homecoming Long Shot

I’m going to preface this segment with this: I know the name I’m about to throw out is a long shot, and HIGHLY unlikely. He has 2 more years on his current contract, and a team currently second in its division.

However, this man built this franchise, he is beloved by the city and Nashville Predators faithful, and if by some miracle he decided to leave his current gig and come back, the fanbase would immediately embrace him and likely have a little faith restored in the front office.

I’m talking about Barry Trotz.

Listen, I know, it is so highly unlikely that Trotzy would make a return behind the bench in Bridgestone Arena. I know we’re more likely to go through another “stop-gap” coach or two before we would actually hire him when his contract expires in Long Island.

However, coaches leave jobs all the time, and Nashville is different for a guy who spent two decades hear defining the team’s identity for years to come.

Smashville wouldn’t be what it is without Barry Trotz. Does his system necessarily work for the roster we have now? Maybe not necessarily (though he’s been known to do more with less). I do believe he could take our veteran defense, mix it with the young talented blue liners, and create something that while it may not be flashy, would be highly formidable.

Maybe it’s that we had to see him win his well-deserved Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, or the fact that he’s turned the Islanders into a contender, but there’s nostalgia around Trotzy, and it sure would be nice to bring him home and see him bring the best trophy in sports to Bridgestone.

Hot Name in NHL Circles

There’s a head coaching candidate just sitting out there, waiting to be claimed, and he has a helluva resumé. This guy took a franchise that was irrelevant for quite some time, and turned them into a playoff contender and division winner in 2015 – 2016, before being fired for going 11-10-1 (better than Hynes current record). He was then hired to lead an expansion franchise in 2017-2018…

Yup, I’m talking about Gerard Gallant.

That expansion franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights, would go on to finish first in its division, and make a cinderella run through the Stanley Cup Playoffs where it fell 4-1 (to former Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz).

Gallant was named the NHL Jack Adams (Coach of the Year) Recipient in 2018. He followed up the Stanley Cup run with a 43-32-7 season, good enough for third in the Pacific Division before being unceremoniously let go during the 2019-2020 season after going 24-19-6 (once again, better than Hynes current trajectory). Ever since, he’s been waiting for his phone to ring.

My point is, Gallant has had success in multiple stops. In a league where even the most mediocre of coaches (don’t make me say who I’m thinking of…you already know) get second, and even third chances, why shouldn’t a proven winner like Gallant?

Gallant clearly knows how to find chemistry with what he’s given – something the Nashville Predators sorely lack, but he also knows how to develop young talent, having one an IIHF Gold Medal in 2007 on Andy Murray’s staff.

If there is one coaching candidate who I believe is worthy of a chance, it’s Gerard Gallant.

The Candidate of Chaos

Please, don’t stop reading. I have to start by saying, this is not the hire I would want the Nashville Predators to make, but we have to exhaust all options, because I think we did just the opposite in hiring Hynes as quickly as we did.

Mike Babcock comes with a ton of baggage. I mean, this guy has more baggage than a Southwest Airlines flight from Nashville to Hawaii, and I don’t know if you know this or not, but “bags fly free” on Southwest (het…Southwest Airlines…sponsor my travel goals, and I’ll give you all the shameless plugs you want).

Babcock’s departure from Toronto was messy, to say the least, but it was also the first time he had actually been fired from a coaching job, and there’s a good reason why.

We may not like Babcock, but we got to know him pretty well from 2005-2015. He’s the guy whose teams kicked our butts for a decade as he coached the Detroit Red Wings.

The 2008 Stanley Cup winning coach never had a losing record behind the bench for the Red Wings, and in fact never finished below fourth in the division (and that only happened ONCE).

It’s easy to forget that the 2007-2008 iteration of the Predators scored the most goals in a season in franchise history, and still got bounced in the first round by Babcock and his Red Wings. Even with Toronto, he only had one losing season out of the four.

I’m not saying he is the hire to make, and I think he has a lot about his style that likely needs changing. It’s tough for an old dog to learn new tricks, and even tougher for a guy who has earned the reputation as a bit of a hard-nosed general and old-school hockey mind.

Still, for those who didn’t hear Brad Richardson during the first intermission of the game on March 4th, he called the team “soft”, and that’s about as damning as a player can be on themselves and their teammates.

You know who doesn’t allow his teams to be soft, sometimes to the point of detriment? Mike Babcock. He’s not my favorite pick, but he’s someone worth kicking the tires on.

Another interesting name to consider

Nashville Predators fans aren’t going to like this one, because his is a name that comes with a painful moment in history (for us): beating the Predators in our one trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Yup, I’m talking about Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He’s under contract through 2024, but as Greg Wyshynski of ESPN put in his “NHL head-coach hot seat heat index rankings: Who are the candidates to get fired next?” piece (by the way – Hynes’ seat is one of the hottest for obvious reasons), the Penguins are in “win now” mode, and anything short of a Stanley Cup may result in his dismissal by the new management in Pittsburgh.

This is especially the case because Sullivan would by no means be out of a job for very long, offsetting what the Penguins would have to pay him for the remainder of this contract.

Predators fans have a lot of reasons to dislike Sullivan (#SissonsScored), but do you know how many candidates are floating around with not one but two Stanley Cup championships on their resumé? Not many, if any.

Sure, Sullivan  inherited a ready-made roster to compete with, but that roster got ousted in the first round the year prior to his hiring, and struggled to get over the second round hump after its Stanley Cup victory in 2009, until he entered the picture.

Sullivan may not have the experience we want for someone that will have to guide a rebuild, but he also hasn’t had the patience of ownership or a fanbase to be in such a situation – he’s always been in places where it was Stanley Cup or bust.

Still, he has the pedigree for greatness, both as an assistant, and as a head coach, and let’s face it: the guy wins.