Can the Predators turn their season around?

BARRY TROTZ CAN HEAR the vultures circling. They sound like a vibrating phone, as other NHL general managers call him to inquire about his veteran players during another disastrous start for the Nashville Predators.

"You hear this from a lot of teams: 'We're looking for a top-six [forward].' You know, I have a couple of top sixes," Trotz told ESPN on Monday. "I've talked to their agents. I just want to get a feel for [things]. If we get this turned around, it'll be fine. If we don't, then maybe they want to say, 'Hey, I'm getting a little older, I want another crack at it. Can we do something?'"

Nashville is the NHL's worst team, ranked 32nd in the NHL in points percentage (.364). They ranked 30th in team defense (3.68 goals against per game) and dead last in goals per game (2.32). Monday's game against the Florida Panthers was the latest calamity -- an 8-3 drubbing, having now gone winless in eight of nine games.

Coach Andrew Brunette said the game got away from his team in "11 seconds," which is the time it took for Florida to take the lead. "I think it falls on all of us. You rely on a good start. We're just having a hard time grabbing it," he said.

Nashville is used to rough starts, unfortunately. This is the second straight season with a calamitous start under Brunette. Nashville was 7-11-3 after 21 games last season. This season, they went 6-11-4.

The Predators aren't "open for business" quite yet. The calls that Trotz gets are more exploratory than anything, especially with potential trade targets like forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault wielding full no-movement clauses. The general manager said those calls are more "keep me in mind" for potential deals.

Speaking to ESPN before the Florida game, Trotz said the next "seven or eight games are going to be a good indicator" if the time has arrived to start having tough conversations with veteran players -- or if Nashville's season still has a flicker of hope.

The Predators themselves are trying to avoid hearing the clock ticking on their current roster.

"That's something I'm not thinking about. You don't know what organization's thinking. It's not worth the energy you're wasting on. You have no idea. You want to focus on what you can control," said center Ryan O'Reilly, another presumed trade target. "I think every ounce should be focused on winning the game in front of us and trying to get momentum back."

How can the Predators get momentum back?

According to Trotz, it won't be through an immediate coaching change, despite the team's current trajectory.

"I do believe in Bruno. That's why I've been firm on that," Trotz said. "I'm not worried about what people think. I think sometimes it's easy to fire the coach because it's the easy thing to do."

TROTZ HIRED BRUNETTE in 2023. He previously coached the Panthers for 75 games in 2021-22 after the resignation of Joel Quenneville, where he earned a Jack Adams nomination for coaching them to the NHL's best record. After Florida was swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brunette was replaced by Paul Maurice, who would lead the Panthers to three straight Stanley Cup Finals and back-to-back Cup wins (2024-25).

Brunette spent 2022-23 as the associate coach in New Jersey and was given credit for the Devils becoming the fourth-highest scoring team in the NHL. When Trotz hired Brunette in May 2023, it was seen as a progressive move by the first-year general manager: Trotz, known as a defense-first coach during his 1,812 games behind an NHL bench, hiring someone known for his up-tempo offense.

But after Nashville finished 10th in scoring during Brunette's first season (3.24 goals per game), the Predators rank 32nd in offense overall the last two seasons combined.

Trotz has been steadfastly in Brunette's corner for the last two seasons. In a recent interview with The Tennessean, Trotz pounded the table with his hand while saying "I need more [expletive]" from his star players.

"I know who makes mistakes. When the puck is on someone's stick and they pass it right to [the other team], that's not [Brunette's] fault," he told the paper.

When asked by ESPN if he would commit to keeping Brunette for the entirety of the 2025-26 season, Trotz wouldn't make that commitment. But the Nashville GM said he hasn't been compelled to consider replacing him yet.

"A lot of factors go into my position. You get different pressures from ownership or whatever. But I haven't had any. So I'm sticking behind a coach that I believe in," he said.

Unlike other NHL GMs, Trotz was part of the coaching fraternity. That plays a role in his thinking with Brunette, as does the fact that David Poile -- the Predators' only other general manager in team history until 2023 -- gave Trotz significant time to grow as head coach during the team's humble expansion beginnings.

But mostly, Trotz believes that the Predators have shown a level of effort -- if not results -- that shouldn't cost Brunette his job.

"If you watch some of our games, the players haven't quit. They play hard and they practice hard," he said. "When the players have quit on the coach, they don't practice hard. They don't pay attention. There's no energy. I can't say that."

On the contrary, he believes the players want to win for Brunette.

"I think there's a relationship that he's forged with guys. I think guys look at Bruno and they go, 'Hey, this guy is on our side. He's trying to make me a better player.'" Trotz said. "They're working their asses off. They're being creative, they're doing all those things. The only thing we haven't gotten are the results."

If Brunette does eventually pay for the Predators' lack of success with his job, his general manager has already ruled out one bench boss as a potential replacement:

Coach Barry Trotz.

There's been speculation from outside the organization that Trotz could return to the bench if Brunette is fired -- not only to salvage the season but so Trotz could theoretically prove that the roster he built can succeed.

But Trotz has been adamant that won't happen.

"When I took this job, I knew I was turning the page on coaching. Now, do I miss parts of coaching? Absolutely. I do miss the game day and being around in the locker room and all that. But when I took the job, I knew that if I'm going to do it, I've got to be all-in," he said. "I've started this. I want to finish this."

Rather than the coaching staff or himself, Trotz has put the responsibility for turning the season around on the players. Their frustrations are starting to boil over after two disappointing starts to the season.

AFTER A LOSS against the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this month, those frustrations got the best of Ryan O'Reilly.

"I should have just bit my tongue," he said. "I think it came off as, 'Gosh, you sound like a crybaby.'"

O'Reilly said that Nashville could never succeed "if I'm playing pathetic like that" as a No. 1 center. "[I] turn the puck over everywhere. Can't make a six-foot pass to save my life," O'Reilly said in a video clip that went viral. "It's stupid. I've had one good year in my career. I don't have an answer, that's for sure."

A few days later, O'Reilly regretted his emotional venting.

"Obviously, you don't want things to get out there and it doesn't look good on anyone on the team. I think I sound a bit like a baby where I should have politely shut up and be better and then that's it," said the center, who had 13 points in 21 games.

Captain Roman Josi noted that O'Reilly did have an all-timer of a season in 2018-19, when he won the Conn Smythe in the St. Louis Blues' miraculous Stanley Cup championship run, as well as his first and only Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward.

"The next morning I was like, 'Hey, I looked at you all your years in the NHL. Definitely have way more years than just one year.' But that's Factor, right?" said Josi, citing O'Reilly's nickname. "He's such a team-first guy. I see him every day how he works on his game -- first guy on the ice, last guy off. He had some amazing years here, so he was definitely too hard on himself."

Defenseman Brady Skjei had O'Reilly's back as well.

"I think all of us would agree that he is a hell of a player and has been for his whole career," he said. "He expects to be great every night. And I mean, from my point of view, I think he is great every night. He wins so many puck battles and he does all the little things well. So he's a huge player for us, on the ice and off the ice."

O'Reilly, 34, was signed by Trotz in summer 2023 to a four-year, $18 million deal. Nashville needed a center. Trotz liked the veteran leadership O'Reilly could provide younger players.

Skjei, Marchessault and Stamkos all arrived the following offseason after Nashville made the playoffs -- going on a 16-2-0 run in the second half of the season before losing 4-2 to Vancouver in the first round.

Skjei was a replacement for Ryan McDonagh, the veteran defenseman who asked for and was given a trade back to Tampa Bay. Marchessault, a Conn Smythe winner with Vegas, and Stamkos, who scored 555 goals in 16 legendary seasons with the Lightning, were added to bring offense to a team that was short on young players up front to provide it.

"We just tried to buy some time and get that similar blend [of players] that Washington did last season," said Trotz, who won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018. "Last year, I think our expectations were blown out of the water, so it felt more painful because I think the expectations were so high on our team. We never really gelled. We didn't even give ourselves a chance to win a lot. I didn't feel like we were in all the games."

This season, Trotz believes the effort and execution are better. "As a coach, you can tell when you're playing decent or you're playing poorly. Last year, we were playing poorly a lot. This year we haven't played poorly, but it is not showing up in our record," he said.

What's carried over season-to-season is the Predators' lack of offense, particularly from the players that were signed to provide it. Chief among them is Stamkos, 35, who had one goal in his first 14 games. He now has four goals and one assist through 21 games.

"It's just a rollercoaster of thoughts. The thing you learn as you get older or go through certain experiences is that the negative stuff never helps," Stamkos said. "And we all do it. It's kind of the 'poor me' card, and it never works. You just sink in deeper."

"So whether it's goal scoring as an individual or as a team, it's the next game. I've tried to look at it and especially with my struggles the last whatever, it's like the next game is going to be the game where it changes," he added.

Despite having full no-movement clauses, Marchessault and Stamkos' names have already hit the trade rumor boards. So has O'Reilly's; he doesn't have trade protection, but will be consulted about any potential trade destination as a veteran courtesy.

Stamkos said any trade talk surrounding him is "all hearsay" at this point.

"If there's a conversation be had, there's a conversation to be had. But for me, it's easy to just forget about that stuff," he said. "I've got to come in here and do my job and try to get going here to help this team. And obviously it hasn't gone well the first little bit."

Stamkos thinks the trade rumors are ultimately a reflection on the Predators' season.

"It just means that we're not having the success that we want as a team," he said. "We heard all this stuff last year, too. Hearing it this year just sucks because it means we're not in a position that we want to be in. Hopefully we can change that."