On Sunday, February 26, the Nashville Predators underwent a huge change in their franchise when team president and general manager David Poile announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season.
Taking his place will be longtime NHL head coach Barry Trotz. Trotz, a Stanley Cup-winning head coach with the Washington Capitals in 2018, coached the Predators for 15 seasons (1998-99 season through the 2013-14 season), so he obviously knows the franchise inside and out.
There is no doubt that Trotz will have his work cut out for him. For the most part, this is a mediocre team that does whatever it can to get into the postseason but then usually gets knocked out in the early rounds.
Trotz has a big challenge ahead of him as he looks to get this franchise back on the right path and make it a Cup contender. While some roster moves will need to be made, I think another move could be integral in getting this franchise back on the right track, and that is hiring a new head coach before the start of next season.
Right now, the team’s head coach is John Hynes. Hynes’s time with the Predators has been uneven and has not produced the results that are needed to have the right kind of success in this league.
One guy that might be able to turn things around is Bruce Boudreau. Boudreau, who was fired by the Vancouver Canucks in mid-January, has continued to express his interest in getting back behind the bench, so there is no doubt that Boudreau would at least be open to coaching the Predators.
Boudreau would be a smart hire for several reasons. For starters, he knows how to win.
As of this writing (Monday, February 27), Boudreau has a coaching record of 617-342-128 with the Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, and Washington Capitals. In 15 regular seasons, his teams have won eight division titles and have made the playoffs in almost every single season that he has been a head coach.
Secondly, he is known for turning around teams quickly. A good example of this occurred with the Canucks when he became their head coach in the month of December last season.
Even though he was not able to get the Canucks into the playoffs, he was still able to guide them to a 32-15-10 record. Under Boudreau, the team’s offense woke up in a big way, played a bit smarter defensively, and clearly won a lot of hockey games.
Boudreau would also be a breath of fresh air to a team that has been stagnant offensively. Under Boudreau, players would be able to play a bit more freely, play to their strengths, not be afraid to make mistakes, and play to the best of their abilities.
Lastly, Boudreau deserves another shot at winning hockey’s Holy Grail. He has done everything in and for this sport and deserves a crack at attaining the one thing that is missing from his trophy case, and that is the Cup.
It will be interesting to see what Trotz does, but if he does end up letting go of Hynes, he should at least strongly consider Boudreau to be the team’s next head coach.
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