The Nashville Predators come out hot and push Trotz to stand pat and miss out on some valuable trades
It's just a very precarious situation for the Predators' front office, not to mention Trotz has already announced he's stepping down once a replacement is found. As the GM search is in the early stages, who knows how that might cloud the judgement of Trotz.
Let's say the Predators win four of their next five before trade deadline day; I don't think that should change the front office's objectives, but I don't know if it would persuade Trotz even a little bit to hold onto a player or two if the Predators finally overcome the mental hurdle of being in a wildcard spot.
The Predators have been flirting with the wildcard bubble going back to mid-December. On December 15, in the midst of winning seven of their last 10 games, the Predators were just three points from being dead last in the Western Conference but also just five points back of the wildcard.
Ironically enough, that was 25 games ago and the Predators now have 25 games left in the regular season. They've only made up one point in the hunt for the wildcard.
The more the Predators win coming out of the break, the more it's going to make Trotz wonder how much he should actually sell. We know he's going to be a partial seller regardless, but will he get a false sense of hope if they win four of five?
The Predators next five opponents are the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins.