Nashville Predators: The Case For and Against John Hynes
The case against keeping John Hynes for Another Year
If we were to have asked about keeping Hynes behind the bench back in December, the answer would have been a resounding no, and I would have agreed. The team had been playing uninspired hockey for the better part of two months, which was completely unacceptable for the expectations they had going into October.
And when you look back at how Hynes was mismanaging the development of the young guys, most notably Eeli Tolvanen, there was little confidence that he could maximize the talent he had in front of him. Fast forward to now, and the situation has significantly changed.
One of the biggest criticisms of Hynes has been the system. Under him, the Predators’ offense has been less about skill and effective puck movement, and more around diligent forechecking and grinding down the opponent.
That certainly has its perks and being a strong forechecking team is by no means a bad thing, but when that becomes your sole identity, it is a problem. And that is what has happened on many occasions with the Predators under Hynes.
Far too often have they relied on winning ugly due to an offense that cannot get going, and their physical nature has resulted in them struggling mightily against teams that have great speed.
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They have also gotten into lots of penalty trouble due to playing the body so many times, which just wears down the whole team. It has resulted in Juuse Saros having to bail them out time and time again, and we saw this year how unsustainable it is.
Such nature of play has also resulted in questionable lineup decisions, and especially at the beginning of the season.
Guys like Cole Smith, Michael McCarron, and Zach Sanford were playing over the skilled youth largely due to them being more physical, which not only stunts player development, but makes the team on the ice objectively worse and easier to figure out.
Speaking of player development, and mainly forwards, that has been a struggle for Hynes and the Predators for years. He has either flat out refused to play the youngsters, given them minimal ice time, or made them play his preferred style instead of the one that suits them individually.
Have we not seen how much better Tolvanen has played in Seattle now that he has gotten more ice time and been put in a situation that actually benefits him? That alone is a huge indictment on Hynes.
It is pretty clear how his coaching methods have held the team back, and he would be wise to evolve at least a little bit in order for him to fulfill his Stanley Cup aspirations. If he does not, there will always be questions about whether or not he can get a team over the top.
The case for keeping John Hynes for Another Year
For all of Hynes’ imperfections there is one thing that even his most staunch naysayers cannot — or at least should not — deny. He is a great leader, and that is something that really matters, especially on a team as young as the Nashville Predators will be in the coming years.
Criticism of his lineup decisions is 100 percent warranted, but you are rarely left wondering why he made such choices. Look at this explanation as to why he benched Glass during a game earlier in the year.
#Preds head coach John Hynes’ complete comments on the decision to bench Cody Glass for the majority of the third period vs. STL on Thursday: pic.twitter.com/1Zvmkw0a95
— Emma Lingan (@emma_lingan) October 29, 2022
Oftentimes other coaches will just respond with something along the lines of “he just has to play better” or “we are going to keep those things in house.” It is rare to see a detailed, thought-out explanation like the one Hynes gave here, and he has offered similar explanations for just about all of the controversial decisions he has made.
I really appreciate that as just as a fan and writer of the team, and as a player that has to make you feel good since you know exactly what you have to earn that ice time.
Let’s also think back to early March 2022, when the Predators were in a bit of a slump, but started to pick themselves back up. Matt Duchene credited Hynes for much of that, as he willingly told the media how Hynes pressed the team about getting away from what had made them good, and the whole team listened and responded.
The fact that the team not only listened to him, but that there was a veteran player publicly talking about it speaks volumes, because you truly have to earn that respect as a head coach.
For as much as the team has struggled to meet high expectations under Hynes, he can certainly motivate them to play through adversity when things are reach a low point.
The Predators rallied to make the playoffs in 2020-21 when they looked to be out of it in mid-March, and proved that ability yet again in 2021-22.
Duchene, Filip Forsberg, and Roman Josi all had career years when the Predators were expected to take a step or few back, and even though the season did not end so well, the start to the year proved that he could actually coach.
Do we even need to talk anymore about what the team dealt with towards the end of this year, between the trade deadline fire-sale and the injuries? A truly bad coach would not have gotten them near the playoffs, and yes Saros was a huge part of it, but the youth doing well and just the team being intact as they were shows that Hynes can bring them together.
All of this is to say that at the very least, Hynes is not this absolute dumpster fire of a head coach that a lot of people make him out to be. He has not proven to be a great one by any means, but if he was that much of a disaster, the season would have ended with loss after loss after loss, and that did not happen.
Final verdict and prediction on John Hynes
Now that we have seen the arguments for and against keeping Hynes, we can agree that he has been a serviceable head coach for the Predators. He has not been a great one, but he has been far from a terrible one, and once again, it is not like he has had a completely fair shot.
The Predators have never been a loaded Stanley Cup contender during his tenure, and what he has done with some pretty bad rosters, especially this year, gives some hope that it could happen with the right roster.
Additionally, with Hynes only having one more year on his contract, giving him that chance to make some progress with the inexperience on the roster might actually be worthwhile. Now, is all of this enough to justify him keeping his job any longer?
If it was my decision, I would say no.
While his floor is obviously good and the players clearly respect him, there seems to be a ceiling as far as where he can take them. Even though the Predators have never had the absolute best roster under him, they still clearly underachieved this season, and the lack of player development is a huge reason why.
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The Predators would be better off with a new coach with new ideas, and with a style of play that maximizes their abilities and is more in line with the modern day game. Unfortunately, the chance of Hynes truly changing the way he coaches is quite low.
The question of what will happen is much different, and a much tougher question. The team is at a point at which there is going to be a lot of trial and error with how young they are, and if they keep Hynes next year only to reach the conclusion that he is not the guy, it will not hurt them that badly.
It is understandable that the majority of fans would not be happy if Hynes came back, but hopefully this article and more importantly, his overall track record convinces you that the team could have a much worse bench boss.
The reality is, there is a high probability that Hynes returns, but if he does, the good news is that the Predators are not at all tied to him for the long haul. So in that case, either he actually proves to be a legit head coach over time, or they find that guy before too long.