It’s Going So Bad In Nashville That GM Barry Trotz Dropped The “Rebuild” Word

I don’t think I’m telling tales out of school when I say that the Nashville Predators are the biggest disappointment of the NHL season so far. Now, it’s so bad, that GM Barry Trotz is even throwing around the word, “rebuild.”

The Predators were one of the league’s best teams through the spring of last season, driven in part by a canceled trip to see U2 at Sphere in Las Vegas, and they worked their way into the playoffs. 

This offseason, a bunch of extra cap space allowed Trotz to bring aboard the two biggest fish on the free agent market in Steven Stamkos (four-year, $32 million and Jonathan Marchessault (five-year, $27.5 million) and even shore up their blue line by signing Brady Skjei (seven-year deal, $49 million) and then…

…it’s early November and the team is 4-8-1 and dead last in the tough Central Division.

Despite some major offseason moves, the Nashville Predators are currently last place in the Central Division. (Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images)

So, things need to turn around in a hurry. However, if they don’t, Trotz made it sound like he’s ready to make some big changes.

“If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan,” Trotz told The Game Nashville’s Jared Stillman, per The Hockey News. “What we did in the summer is what they call fantasy hockey, until we become a good team. If we don’t become a good team, then we are going to see a lot more of our kids starting that process.”

I thought Nashville would be in the dogfight at the top of the Central Division, so never in a million years did I think we’d be in the second week of November and the team would be wallowing away behind the Chicago Blackhawks.

But, alas, here we are.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a team go from throwing around more than $100 million to talking rebuilds as fast as this. Maybe it’s just Trotz trying to kick-start his team, but he sure sounds like things are pretty dire in Music City.