The Nashville Predators are finally on the board, getting their first win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. However, it is not the win everyone is talking about.
Everyone is talking about what Predators general manager Barry Trotz said on his weekly radio spot, ESPN 102.5 The Game in Nashville.
Trotz spoke about how he is looking for a number-two center, but he also talked about the Predators’ only window of two years to win before rebuilding and retooling.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on Wednesday and reiterated Barry Trotz’s stance on needing a number two center. Friedman was also shocked by the comments made by the Predators GM about the team’s two-year window.
NHL Rumors: Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Columbus Blue Jackets
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Elliotte Friedman: “Barry Trotz does a radio hit every Tuesday in Nashville on their station there, and I always listen to it. And it was interesting. The hole they have I really think Scott is at number two center.
They’re trying everything there. They’ve tried Tommy Novak there. They’ve been disappointed that it hasn’t worked. They tried Cole Smith there. They’ve tried Stamkos there. Last night, they started with Colton Sissons between Stamkos and Marchessault.
They asked him about it, and he said ‘Look, I’m trying to trade for a center, but nobody’s trading right now.’ So, a lot of your solutions have to come from within. And you talk about how much concern there was. He was asked yesterday, basically, what happens if this doesn’t work, this thing that doesn’t work. And he’s been asked this question five games into the Stamkos, Marchessault, Brady Skjei era, so that tells you how much panic there was going on there.
He basically said, look like, we’ve got two years to make it work before our young kids take over. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll be calling the agents in two years and saying, where these guys want to go. But I was listening to the interview, and I was thinking to myself, my goodness, like, what a question to be asked.
Not that the question was bad or dumb or anything, but what a question to be asked five games into your season, after you’ve signed all these guys. So I think that indicates what the feeling was like in Tennessee if they lost five in a row.”
NHL Rumors: Columbus Blue Jackets, and the New York Rangers
The win against Boston was huge for Nashville. However, there is still panic in the air as GM Barry Trotz wants to shake up his team and put them over the top.