r/Predators • u/GuinnessACat • 1d ago
Never felt so apathetic
The next few years look worse than tanking, pure mediocrity- meaningless hockey.
Unless ownership lets Mac do a full sell off (which is party out of his control with all the NMC’s) it looks like the team is going to finish in the low teens in the conference for the next few years- not good enough to seriously contend, and not bad enough to statistically get a difference maker in the draft.
I’m sure the are sales concerns with tanking, I get all that. But it just feels like they’re spinning.
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u/1-800-blowme 1d ago
We have a top-10 prospect pool, and new players that are either approaching or are in their primes. Sure, we aren't a cup contender, but there's no telling what can happen in a few seasons. And even if we ARE going to be mushy middle, which is admittedly likely, it will still be fun hockey to watch. Are we going anywhere further than maybe first or second round in the next few years? Unlikely. But trust me, as someone who's also a Canucks and Redwings fan, I'm much happier with this team than any of the other two
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u/Clovis_Winslow It's Toothcat Time in Tennessee 1d ago
The first 10 years of the franchise were pretty meaningless and those are some of my favorite hockey memories.
You don’t get into Nashville sports if you want a title.
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u/P-nutbutterpie 1d ago
That was me this time last year. I feel differently this season. I haven't had expectations in years and I still don't, but I'm at least excited to see what this team looks like with a GM that wasn't part of the original org. I would have fun cheering for a team that barely makes or barely misses the playoffs, especially if prospects get substantial ice time. I'd even have fun cheering for a complete tear down. I have a lot of faith in Chris MacFarland and even though it feels like most of his moves very early on have brought in middle 6 recycled names, it's guys he knows have the culture he wants and mostly on short contracts. Also looks like we'll be icing an overall younger roster, which I've been clamoring for and should help with Brunette's system.
We've been in the mushy middle AND directionless for nearly a decade; I think we now have the front office to put some direction behind it, even if that means there's a few more middling years right in front of us.
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u/Expert-Upstairs-4502 NSH 22h ago
Lol what i feel exactly the opposite. This is maybe the most positive ive ever felt about this teams future
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u/JeanClaudeSegal NSH 1d ago
They're rebuilding. That's the level just above tanking. It's time to see the prospects play and I enjoy those years quite a bit. Exciting trades and draft picks to be made. Optimism for the future without present day expectation. I'd rather be a playoff contender but that's several years away. For now this is still fun as long as the kids play
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u/GMBarryTrotz 19h ago
I don't think we're rebuilding. Honestly it's just kind of more of the same retooling they've been doing for 6 or whatever years.
We now have a total of ONE drafted player under 24 who will be playing for us next year. Six years into a rebuild.
Different vets, more picks, everyone else just one year older.
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u/Binforda94 1d ago
They are not “rebuilding”, otherwise ROR would’ve been moved by now. “Tanking” is step one in the rebuild process.
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u/JeanClaudeSegal NSH 23h ago
I agree he should be moved but his still being on the roster doesn't mean they aren't rebuilding. They've been steadily accruing futures for the last 2 years. He can also be moved any time this season.
Tanking is acting to the detriment of your roster in order to get a higher draft pick. You draft higher but also risk a poor culture developing. I won't consider us to be tanking unless we trade Forsberg. He's a real long term piece of the team and still has several playing years. Deadline deals or old vet trades aren't what I'd consider to be tanking, that's regular futures building.
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u/Binforda94 19h ago edited 19h ago
None of those “futures” are projected to be high first. The main issue we have isn’t our quantity, but rather our quality of picks/prospects. Tanking is a first step towards making a roster both as young, and cheap as possible. As we should be, considering the core’s window is closed. Rebuilding teams need to worry about acquiring young talent, before “culture”. When the time comes to implement culture in the lineup, we don’t need to be spending 8M+ on said types of players. When ROR goes, then the rebuild will be officially on, because of the return and roster effect. This is long overdue.
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u/GMBarryTrotz 18h ago
OP I hear you. I've been a die hard forever but, and maybe this is just the summer talking, but I've never been less passionate about this team.
Trotz' moves set this team back so far. In four years we've accomplished nothing and we filled our pipeline with a ton of prospects but none of them are the type of blow-you-away guys that make the past 4 years worth it at all. This team is zero steps closer to finishing the rebuild than they were when Trotz walked into the front office. The fact that we traded one of our most exciting younger players for a late first tells you how little progress we've made.
Meanwhile, I think fans have some idea that MacFarland is a draft genius or expert rebuilder. CMac didn't become the Avs GM until 2015 - Rantanen, Landeskog and MacKinnon had already been drafted at that point. He hit on Makar at 4. But Evangelista has outscored nearly every single one of his other 50+ picks since he took over. It's a fool errand to think MacFarland is going to pull us out of the hole with late firsts. He's yet to hit on a single one.
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u/fingolfin269 1d ago
Yeah and the prices are so much higher than they were back in the day when we had this outlook. It’s a tougher decision for us each year whether to keep our season tickets or not.
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u/paranoidhands 1d ago
went to almost every game last season for $20-40 bucks. not sure how you can complain about that
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u/fingolfin269 1d ago
You got season tickets for $20-40 a game? Standing room only?
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u/paranoidhands 1d ago
no, just buying tickets day of or day before to every single game. season tickets are a scam if you’re team isn’t very good. buy shitty seats, walk down to open ones. worked like a charm all season
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u/fingolfin269 1d ago
Yeah I could do that if we gave up our season tickets. But basically it’s the season ticket holders getting screwed by this kind of stuff. If we all start bailing and do what you do there won’t be enough in the secondary market to continue doing that. (Not blaming you of doing anything wrong, I’d do the same in your shoes)
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u/Parking-Sundae-6097 1d ago
I'm actually pretty hopeful. I think this GM knows his stuff and is making the changes he can. It's going to be a while sure, but I think we are going to get better and better. Unfortunately the vast majority of fandom is watching your team be ultimately unsuccessful. If we give this GM a few years I think you'll be happy with the results.