The 2024-25 season isn’t getting any better for a Nashville Predators team that’s done nothing but struggle since the puck dropped about two and a half months back. While there is a lot of time left to turn the tide of the season, it’s also clear that the Preds are running out of chances.
So, with Festivus in the rearview, I felt it was time to air a few grievances toward general manager Barry Trotz and the entire Predators organization, thanks to how poorly this season has gone.
Trying to buy a championship
Yeah, this is something that you just don’t do because it rarely works in hockey. And yep, there are instances when it does, but filling a few gaps with some aging players is not often a recipe for success. And it can even end in disaster, something we’ve seen from not one but two teams this season.
I’m not saying that ‘other’ team was anywhere near championship contention, but they (the Chicago Blackhawks) tried to buy their way into speeding up a rebuild. In the end, both they and the Predators are looking more like contenders for James Hagens, who is presumably the top prospect in the 2025 draft.
Wasting a legendary season for Juuse Saros
Yeah, a lot of fans may scoff at a goaltender who has an 8-14-6 record, but Juuse Saros has been manning the net for a very bad hockey team. He’s led the league with 799 shots faced across 28 starts, so those two stats alone have put a lot of pressure on him.
But still, it’s amazing to see that Saros has given the team three shutouts, a 2.69 GAA, and a fair 0.907 save percentage. Those aren’t terrible numbers, and you can even call them ‘legendary,’ considering the current circumstances in Nashville.
Yet it’s tough to see, with this team struggling the way it has been despite strong play in the net from Saros.
Dysfunction with the puck
It’s been bad for the Predators when they have the puck, regardless of who they signed. Yeah, we talked about this a little earlier, but you’d think that with the likes of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault coming to town that things would have picked up at some point.
They haven’t, and now, you can count Stamkos and Marchessault among the league’s more underperforming players. Yeah, it’s been painful to watch for Preds fans, especially throughout a season that started off with a ton of hope, given the legendary offseason they had. Or, supposedly…