Barry Trotz gets brutally honest about alarming state of Nashville Predators

It is no secret what a disappointment the Nashville Predators have been to start the 2024-25 regular season. They have started 4-8-1 after essentially winning the offseason and improving their team on paper, and overall, things have not gotten to a point where they have been any better.

We knew things could take time with new chemistry developing between new teammates, but the Predators should at least be showing progress right now, and that has not happened. The fans who just want to see their team win and be taken seriously are rightfully frustrated, and they are not alone.

Barry Trotz recently hopped on the Predators' flagship radio station, 102.5 The Game, to discuss how he views the team and their slow start. GM's and coaches can be weird in how they answer or even sidestep tough questions, and not only did Trotz not sidestep such questions, he answered them in unfiltered fashion, to say the least.

Trotz is quickly running out of patience for Nashville Predators

First of all, let me give Trotz major credit for absolutely not sugarcoating things when talking about his thoughts on the Predators. In this age of social media, people including myself hear eye popping quotes from team members and love to make stories of them, and Trotz knew that and willingly offered nothing but his honest assessment of the team.

It has to be refreshing not only for the fans to hear, but the players as well, knowing that Trotz is an open book and will say things as they are, leaving no doubt on where things stand. And of the things that stood out in his press conference, one of them, most obviously, is that he is less than thrilled with the current state of affairs.

Fans always ask the question on when "panic time" has arrived, and for most of them, it is getting to that point where real worries are setting in. And Trotz would agree, as he literally said that he is concerned like the rest of us and has seen them have to solve problem after problem.

Trotz also said that he feels it is going to take months for the Predators to get back where they were supposed to be, which sounds alarming. Yes, there is lots of time left and they could go on a big winning streak, but Trotz is right, the team has dug themselves in a huge hole and it will take a crazy swing of momentum for them to reach expectations, which is hard to pull off.

How long will Trotz let the losing continue before he rips it apart?

Now it is a no brainer that Trotz is concerned with the Predators right now, he would be ignorant not to be, but a whole other question is just how much patience does he have with this group. And that leads into what was really the big story from the interview: Trotz mentioning that should the team not show any signs of improvement in the near future, he might start the rebuild process.

Now of course, that sounds absolutely crazy after the Predators made three major signings in free agency, along with re-signing Juuse Saros. And it is doubtful at best that Trotz trades any of the truly major players on the team, but at the very least, we can bet that if things do not turn around, he will shake up the roster one way or another.

And who knows, the Predators have lots of older players on their roster and lack top speed because of it, so maybe a trade for a younger guy could help. Right now, I would look at Trotz's rebuild comments as mainly a wake up call for the team to get better, as he wants to give them at least a few more weeks, but if that does not happen, then all bets are off.

Another key storyline from Trotz's responses was that he sees the issues on the Predators as player related more so than coaching. That is not to say Andrew Brunette has been perfect, everybody shares a piece of the blame for what is going on, and the way he has handled the forward lines has not been the most conducive for team chemistry.

But there is no doubt that Brunette has had some roster issues to deal with, most notably, the complete lack of a second line center. A big part of why he is shuffling the lines so much is that he is trying desperately to find a solution there, and as mentioned, it does not help that the overall team speed is average at best.

But it is not just talent that is the issue among the players, actual performance is bogging them down even worse, as they are making things way too complicated for themselves. One of the things everyone has noticed is them not shooting the puck enough, and Trotz called out his main forwards for exactly that on Tuesday.

It also seems that Trotz thinks the overall player mentality is a bit off, as he claims to have told them to forget about last year and focus on the task at hand. When teams like the Predators go on big winning streaks like they did last year and have the offseasons they just did, players will naturally be excited and have high expectations. And when things are not going as well as expected, it is easy to get frustrated, so it makes sense that the Predators might be fighting their own human nature here.

When teams are underperforming relative to their talent level, it is easy to point to the coach first, and while he has to get better himself, so do the players. And especially leadership, Trotz assembled this roster largely because of their pedigree and strong culture qualities, so the captains have to dig deep themselves and help steer this group in the right direction.

It is four weeks into the season, which is too long for the Predators to be struggling like they are, but leaves enough time for them to salvage their bad start. We will see if they find some answers, but prepare for a change or several if things stay the same for much longer.