Nashville Predators: Four Things to Watch For over Final 20 Games
By Chad Minton
Can John Hynes Secure Another Year as Head Coach for Nashville?
This is the most obvious question to ask ourselves down the stretch. Will this team show enough development and fortitude to prove to newly hired General Manager Barry Trotz that Hynes deserves the final year of his two-year deal he received last summer?
The important thing here is the Predators can’t just completely fold and show no fight down the stretch. They’re going to be significant underdogs on paper alone in a lot of their upcoming matchups. What can work in Hynes’ favor of keeping his job another year is if the team pulls off some upsets and rallies to make things interesting.
On the flip side, if the team stunts in their growth and morale drops, it will be hard to justify keeping Hynes around any longer after trading away so many core player to begin with.
It never really made sense to fire Hynes in the middle of the season. It wouldn’t have accomplished much unless there was already a head coach you just couldn’t resist hiring as soon as possible. Not sure that head coach is out there, but Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor seems to be the leading candidate.
If the Nashville Predators can win more games than they lose over the last 20, I’ll consider that a small victory for Hynes and his coaching staff when you consider so much youth and inexperience has been thrown into heavy NHL minutes, not to mention navigating the injuries to key players.
Hynes’ win-loss record as head coach for the Nashville Predators is 123-88-17 for a point percentage of .577. Considerably higher than his point percentage in five seasons with the New Jersey Devils (.487).
It’s the dismal performances his teams have shown in the playoffs over his head coaching career that is the major blemish to his resume. It seems very unlikely that Hynes makes it to next season as head coach of the Predators.