The Nashville Predators just concluded a road trip in which they could have built serious momentum, and failed to do so. They went 2-4-0 in those games, which is really disappointing, and might just be the nail in the coffin on a lost year that had so much hype.
General Manager Barry Trotz had previously said that around Christmas would be the time to determine if the season could be salvaged, and the Predators had appeared to buy more time with some wins beforehand. But of course, that proved to be an outlier relative to how the rest of the season has gone, and you have to imagine that Trotz is ready to start looking to next year and beyond.
Moves such as trading Scott Wedgewood and Alexandre Carrier show that the Predators want to get younger, but just in general, there are a lot of ways they could shake up their roster. One of the areas that must be a priority is the defense, not really because it has been bad, but because of how many guys have emerged this year, and how many are left for the future.
Nashville Predators have way too many bodies on defense to be sustainable moving forward
In addition to the tough year the Predators have had on its own, they have had to deal with injuries, especially on the back end. Nobody ever wants to see injuries happen, but a positive to that is other guys have gotten some real opportunities, and have taken serious advantage.
Most notably, Adam Wilsby and Nick Blankenburg have looked legitimate since being inserted into the lineup in mid-November. You can just see the talent that they have offensively and defensively, they are fast and can play an effective 200-foot game, and each has had at least one highlight reel goal.
Unfortunately, Wilsby himself has caught the injury bug and is on IR, which has allowed Spencer Stastney to come back and recently make his season debut. And let's give that a moment of recognition after Stastney missed all of training camp and beyond with personal issues, which we can assume were grave and traumatic.
In any event, when we look at the entire list of key defensemen on the Predators, including current guys and those who project to be a big part of the future, we have Roman Josi, Brady Skjei, Jeremy Lauzon, Luke Schenn, Adam Wilsby, Nick Blankenburg, Spencer Stastney, Justin Barron, Marc Del Gaizo, Ryan Ufko, Tanner Molendyk, and Andrew Gibson.
You see what I mean? That is an absurd amount of guys in the system, even if some have yet to play in the NHL. Of the twelve guys listed there, nine of them have played for the Predators this year, and that does not even include Dante Fabbro, who was waived in November.
The list of super relevant defensemen on the Predators is twice the amount of guys they would dress on any regular night, so obviously, that needs to be dealt with. And even more obviously, we can rule out two guys who are going nowhere - Josi and Skjei.
Skjei just signed a seven-year contract, and Josi is actually getting closer to the end of his time in Nashville, but we can still assume he is going nowhere anytime soon. So where else can they look?
Lauzon and Schenn are the most expendable
You would have to assume that Lauzon and Schenn are the ideal expendables at this point. Lauzon is still reasonably young at 27 and is a super physical guy, setting the NHL's single-season hit record last year. He has also gotten better and more refined as a player in the recent seasons, so surely he would be a sensible pickup for some other teams.
I know it sounds crazy to include Schenn in this, since he has noticeable on-ice deficiencies and is seemingly un-tradable. But he has a good reputation around the league, he has been known to aid team cultures and locker room dynamics, is experienced having won a Stanley Cup, and is super physical, which teams covet, so it is not out of the question that he could generate some interest.
If the Predators can move Lauzon and Schenn, that would be sensible given how this season has played out and the state of their defensive core. Josi, Skjei, Wilsby, Blankenburg, Stastney, and Barron could be the primary group this year, with Ufko, Molendyk, and Gibson working in Milwaukee to improve and potentially earn roster spots next year.
As for Del Gaizo, he has looked totally fine when he has played, but I think it is safe to say he is not one of the main guys for the future. He has been waived two separate times this season, and overall just has not done enough to stand out amongst the several defensemen the Predators have.
Now, Del Gaizo is great as a seventh defenseman, and hopefully the Predators can keep him to play in Milwaukee primarily, and come up when guys are injured.
Either way, the organization has a plethora of notable blue-liners in their arsenal, and it is just a matter of if they can make the right decisions and fit the pieces well together.