Predators’ GM Barry Trotz: ‘If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan’
Things are certainly not going well in the Music City, and now the team’s leader is starting to speak out.
During a radio interview on 102.5 The Game on Wednesday, Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz stated that if the team doesn’t turn things around, there will be some notable changes.
“I’m trying to do some things right now,” Trotz explained. “We will be limited a little because of some of the contracts we do have. If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan a little bit.”
GM Barry Trotz on the Preds rough start and if he's ready to change course. Via @JaredStillman
"I'm trying to do some things right now… we will be limited a little because of contracts… if we don't get it going, then I'm going to start our rebuild plan." pic.twitter.com/ZkpGmbLufA
“What we did in the summer, as they say ‘fantasy hockey,’ until we have a good team. [If] we don’t become a good team, then we’re going to see a lot more of our kids starting their process.”
Trotz acknowledged the big swings that he and the rest of the Predators staff made this offseason, going out and signing Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, was to make this team a threat. However, things have not quite worked out.
“We brought in the veteran players this year to be a threat…and then in the next coming years our young guys and take an even bigger and bigger role…If there’s a position where we fall out and it’s not happening, or doesn’t come together…we’re going to shake it up.”
While Filip Forsberg is back leading the team in scoring, along with Ryan O’Reilly contributing, Marchessault and Stamkos haven’t been the game-changers Trotz was expecting. Marchessault has just two goals and seven points in 12 games, while Stamkos has registered five points so far.
Following a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night, in which the Preds mustered up just 16 shots on goal, Nashville has lost three of its last four games and has a measly 4-7-1 record thus far. The Predators’ nine points are tied for the fewest in the NHL, with their .375 winning percentage placing them just a hair above the Philadelphia Flyers for the worst record in the league.
The Predators are set to take on the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.