Free washer | Threat of reconstruction: Barry Trotz clarifies his thoughts

Predators general manager Barry Trotz surprised many observers this week by threatening to begin a rebuild in Nashville if the club doesn’t start racking up wins.

Managers begin reconstructions at the end of a cycle, but discussing this possibility a few months after granting 108 million to three players in their thirties, Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, leaves one perplexed.

With this new collection of stars, the Predators had aspirations of a playoff spot before the season started. They are 4-8-1 after 13 games, one point behind the Canadian. They are already five points from the last place giving access to the playoffs, with seven clubs to beat to get there, including the Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche.

The Predators general manager clarified his thoughts Wednesday in an interview with the daily The Tennessean. “We would never raze everything,” he confided.

In office since 2023, David Poile’s successor explained that his massive investments in the free agent market were aimed at keeping the team competitive in the short term while waiting to see the organization’s hopes develop.

Trotz’s decisions go hand in hand with his vision expressed to journalists. Nashville has drafted twice in the first round in 2023, in the 15^e et 24^e ranks, and has been drafted in the third round three times in 2024, not counting his first and second round picks. The Predators also have three first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2025.

But this type of strategy, to which certain general managers adhere or have adhered, including Marc Bergevin in Montreal, also has its drawbacks. The rejuvenation phase is less painful for fans, obviously, but it increases the difficulty rate in the draft since success rhymes with more distant choices. Unless you go cold turkey, as seems to be the case so far in Nashville.

If the Predators continue to get bogged down, Trotz will proceed with a rejuvenation phase, without however getting rid of Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Marchessault, Skjei and goaltender Juuse Saros, he promises.

Who currently makes up this famous nucleus of the future of the Predators? Luke Evangelista, 22, and Philip Tomasimo, 23, have already reached the NHL. They play on a third line. Tomasino is already in his fourth professional season. He had 20 points in 41 games in Nashville last year, and 18 points in 22 games in the American League. Evangelista has 6 points in 13 games this season, after producing 39 points last year. They are good players, without being impact attackers.

The first pick of 2021, at 19^e rank, center Fedor Svechkov, 22, left Russia last year. He had a good season in the American League with 39 points in 57 games, but did not break through the lineup this season. He will be 23 in April.

Drafted at 17^e rank in 2022, winger Joakim Kemell, 5 feet 11 inches and 191 pounds, represents one of the good prospects. He has eight points in nine games so far in the American League at 20 years old. We want to further develop other assets in him so that he is not only considered as a scorer. A quality winger? Yes. First trio? Probably not.

The team’s first pick the following year, in 2023, Matthew Wood, is a 6-foot-4 power forward. He’s off to a spectacular start in his third year in the NCAA – now at the University of Minnesota, after transferring from UConn – with 13 points in 8 games, but his challenge will be improving his mobility, which he did at some respects for two years.

The second first-round pick in this crop, defenseman Tanner Molendyk, is undoubtedly the most interesting player in the Predators’ group of prospects. He’s not the biggest or strongest, but he still produces a ton offensively in the Western Junior League.

Last summer’s top pick, another Russian center, Yegor Surin, is playing in the KHL this season. He has 4 points in 18 games in Yaroslav. They can’t all produce at the rate of Ivan Demidov. 5-foot-10 center Teddy Stiga, a second-round pick, is off to a good start at Boston College.

19-year-old center David Edstrom, a late first-round pick in 2023, was acquired from the San Jose Sharks in the trade for goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. He is off to a good start in Frölunda, but is already in his third organization. He moved to San Jose in the trade for Tomas Hertl, and then in this one. This does not mean that he is a disappointing prospect, but that two teams nevertheless did not do everything to retain him.

2021 sixth-round pick Simon Knak, 22, returned to Switzerland after a brief stint in North America and will likely never play in the NHL, but we love the name and the pun possibilities.

In short, there is no shortage of hope in Nashville. But how many will become impact players capable of eventually making the Predators Stanley Cup contenders within ten years? The rest will tell us.