Predators general manager David Poile took over 10 minutes giving his stance on the 2019-20 season Wednesday before taking questions from reporters, and did not mince words. Change is coming to Smashville… within reason, of course.
After exiting the playoffs and the Edmonton bubble in just four games, the only GM in franchise history will attempt to further change the mojo surrounding his team after already making a coaching change in January. Poile joined Jared and The GM on Friday to elaborate on what changes are realistic in an abnormal offseason.
“Number one…, bringing in new or different people,” Poile said on 102.5 The Game. “I’m clearly wanting to have some change in the people that we have.”
Head coach John Hynes, the most recent major new addition to the club, could have a say in who stays and who goes. But the front office clearly envisions changes in on-ice personnel.
“I mean all through our lineup,” Poile continued. “Oftentimes [criticism] gets pretty well focused on the top players; they didn’t score or they didn’t perform to this level and that’s why we lost. But there’s other guys too, that may be playing on the third or fourth line, that their contributions were ok but in my mind they can do better, too. I don’t think anybody gets a free pass here. You could go through the lineup, and I could probably identify something that I’d probably like each player to be better in.”
As Poile reasonably spreads blame, the realities of 2020 limit how much he can really do. For the first time since the NHL established the salary cap in 2005, the money GMs can spend on players will remain static from one season to the next, at $81.5 million. The cap typically rises by at least two million dollars as league revenues steadily increase, and teams count on that annual jump when planning for the future. Even if Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith leave as free agents, the Preds would likely still have under $10 million in cap space for 2020-21.
“You’re gonna have to be creative in some of the changes you’re gonna have to make,” Poile said on account of the flat cap.
Fear not, Poile believes small changes can make a big difference for this current Preds group.
“On paper, the skill of our team that we have today might outmatch any team that we’ve ever had. But it’s a big reminder to me that in hockey specifically you need all sorts of different players to be successful… The parts might all be there but it doesn’t add up to specifically what we need right now.”
Whether that means changes on the fourth line, trading a player like Nick Bonino with one year left on his contract, or investing in serious playing time for rising NHLers like Jeremy Davies, Alex Carrier, Eeli Tolvanen, or Phil Tomasino, David Poile seems hell-bent on change at any cost over the next few month. Even if he can’t spend as much cash as he’d like when instigating that change.
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