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.
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.