Trotz using lessons winning Stanley Cup as coach to guide Predators to their first as GM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Barry Trotz won a Stanley Cup as a coach and is showing no patience for a rebuild toward some kind of fuzzy, optimistic future.

Winning now isn't easy. The man who coached the Washington Capitals to the Cup in 2018 spent his second offseason as Nashville's general manager making the NHL's biggest free agency splash to position the Predators as contenders once again. As the third-winningest coach in NHL history and the only active GM of a team he once coached, Trotz knows only too well the challenges of making the playoffs first.

“I just want us to be a threat,” Trotz said.

The franchise Trotz coached for its first 15 seasons finally reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 while he was coaching the Capitals. The Predators followed up by winning the Presidents' Trophy in 2018. Yet they haven't won a series since losing Game 7 in the second round to Winnipeg in 2018.

“Everybody’s talking about expectations,” Trotz said. "Let’s just win a round ... So let’s just win a round.”

The Predators reached the postseason in Trotz's first year as general manager, the franchise's ninth berth in 10 seasons tying Tampa Bay and Washington for the most playoff appearances in that span.

After dipping to 27th in the NHL in points on Thanksgiving, Nashville made a run with a franchise-record 18-game point streak, the league's longest since Colorado in 2021-22. The Predators outscored opponents 74-33 during that streak.

Then in the first round, the Predators lost to Vancouver in six games.

Trotz looked at the lack of scoring beyond forward Filip Forsberg and captain Roman Josi. He saw a team that killed penalties well but was among the worst on the power play, scoring only two goals on 22 man advantages. Then the former coach turned GM got busy.

Trotz returned defenseman Ryan McDonagh to Tampa Bay in May, clearing a $6.75 million cap hit off the books to create room. He kept Juuse Saros with an eight-year deal worth just under $62 million, locking up a goalie that just finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting through the 2032-33 season.

Then came July 1, a day some Predators said felt like “Christmas morning.”

Trotz stunned the league by signing Stanley Cup champion forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. Stamkos left Tampa Bay after 16 seasons, two Cup titles and two other trips to the final for a four-year, $32 million deal with Nashville. Marchessault, the playoff MVP as Vegas won its first championship in June 2023, called Stamkos to say he was joining him in Music City with his own five-year deal for $27.5 million.

The Predators GM was not finished. He also signed defenseman Brady Skjei for $49 million over seven years and got Scott Wedgewood for $3 million over two seasons to back up Saros.

Josi said those moves are proof that Trotz meant it when he said he doesn't want to rebuild or just make the playoffs. The Predators' play last season gave Trotz confidence to gamble. Josi, now 34, knows his new teammates' experience will help.

“I definitely believe those moves will help us to be a better team and get closer to that goal for sure,” Josi said. "I mean, Stammer and Marchy both won Stanley Cups. They know how to win and Skjei has been amazing his whole career.”

Forsberg may be the biggest benefactor of all of Trotz's moves. He set the franchise record with 48 goals and had a career-high with 46 assists and 94 points last season. He tied for second in the NHL with a career-best 11 game-winning goals. Against Vancouver, Forsberg was held to two goals and six points.

“It certainly gives us options,” Forsberg said of the line combinations available to coach Andrew Brunette.

After working with Nashville's first general manager David Poile, the winningest and longest-tenured GM in the NHL before he retired in 2023, Trotz has the Predators stocked with draft picks with lots of talent in the farm system even with trading young goalie Yaroslav Askarov to San Jose after the Russian demanded a trade.

Now it's time to work, with the season opener coming up Oct. 10 against Dallas, and see if the additions Trotz called “serial winners” can bring that winning edge to the Predators.

“I think we’re in a good spot, but it’s fantasy hockey until we drop the puck and play for real,” Trotz said.

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