Barry Trotz might be fed up with the Nashville Predators’ play, but he did come to the defence of their team culture.
The team’s general manager responded to NHL insider Frank Seravalli’s comments that “the environment around the Predators is the most toxic in the NHL” on Tuesday.
“I talked to a couple of our key people, and they chuckled at that,” said Trotz on ESPN Nashville’s 102.5 The Game.
“I know what toxic is, and I don’t feel we’re there,” the Predators general manager added.
The Predators answered with a hapless 8-3 loss to the Florida Panthers where they allowed a goal 11 seconds into the game.
Trotz’s frustrations might stem from a lack of production from players the team signed two off-season’s ago. Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault joined the team during the summer in 2024 and have both seen their numbers decline while Nashville has struggled.
The Predators sit at the bottom of the standings with a league-worst 51 goals (2.32 per game).
If the team doesn’t make headway soon, Trotz says he’s going to make changes.
“My goal would be to probably look at seeing if we can find a situation where maybe a young forward or a defenceman do a little bit of a flip flop, with maybe another team, and allow some of our young guys to come up,” Trotz said.
“You’re gonna see (Reid) Schaefer, (Joakim) Kemell, (Cole) O’Hara, and probably David Edstrom,” Trotz added. “Players like that, and obviously Tanner Molendyk, and Ryan Ufko’s had a really good year this year, coming up and playing games for us.”
