What do Barry Trotz and the Predators do next?
The Nashville Predators had a horrendous 2024-25 season, finishing 30-44-8 with 68 points, seventh in the Central Division and nearly 30 points back of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
While they’re off to a better start in 2025-26, going 5-6-3 with 13 points, they have also lost four of their last five games, including a 5-4 overtime defeat at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
Since Barry Trotz re-joined Nashville as a general manager ahead of the 2023-24 season, the team has only made the playoffs once, losing in the first round in 2024, then proceeded to sign more than $100 million worth of contracts on July 1, 2024 to Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. If the Predators are unable to find success this season, some are wondering if Trotz will be on the hot seat.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Predators’ failure to find success through their free agent additions and whether the clock may be running out for Trotz.
Tyler Yaremchuk: I think we’ve gotten to the point where you have to ask: What if this goes bad this year? What do you do if you’re Trotz? We’ve talked about this with organizations like the San Jose Sharks and the New York Islanders where the new GM comes in to take on the rebuild and he gets a grace period from the fanbase. You’re allowed to stink and throw up your hands, “We’re retooling, we’re rebuilding!”
Barry Trotz might have blown his chance to be that guy.
Carter Hutton: Sometimes for a legendary coach who is remembered for coaching, you try to transition to being a general manager. There’s an art to being a GM: it’s a different task, there’s a lot more that goes into just understanding the game and players. There’s a lot to manager in a business like the NHL.
If you’re Trotz, we looked at this team early and it felt like we were playing fantasy hockey. “Wow, they have got a lot of good players!” We said the Predators were the winners – but it’s getting guys to play together, and it just hasn’t happened yet.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…