News yesterday out of the Predators camp is that Francis Bouillon, who was given an early exit last year with a concussion, may very well be on the shelf again. While rehabbing and working out to prepare for the upcoming season, Bouillon suffered a setback of post-concussive symptoms forcing him to abandon further exercise and workouts. This is a very similar situation that the Predators faced with the likes of Matthew Lombardi who the Preds lost after playing only 4 periods of hockey last season.
With the news of Bouillon underdevelopment and training camp looming within the next two months, the Predators and mainly David Poile are going to be faced with some tough decisions. Unfortunately for Nashville, some other decisions before the news of the loss of Bouillon may haunt the Predators D-core for the 2011-2012 season.
The Predators decided to part ways with gritty blue-liner Shane O’Brien and allowed him to hit free agency. Although there weren’t any takers in the first weeks of free agency, O’Brien was subsequently picked up by Colorado for a reported $1.1M. For that price, O’Brien could have found a home here in Nashville without the front office breaking the bank. Although some will remember him for his untimely penalties, especially during the playoff series against Anaheim, he provided the sandpaper and protection for the rest of the team so captain Shea Weber could avoid the penalty box for enforcing some of the unwritten rules of the game. O’Brien was also used effectively on the penalty kill alongside Klein, and posted decent defensive numbers for his five on five play.
Diagnosis? I think he will be sorely missed given the news about Bouillon. Maybe Poile missed out on a good insurance policy with NHL experience and grit. My guess is Tootoo will have to police the opposition regularly since bringing in Zack Stortini is essentially Belak 2.0 without the personality.
Now to Franson. I have a gut check feeling about the trade of Franson and Lombardi for Lebda and Slaney that Poile may regret this one for a while. Franson was just starting to hit his stride and his offensive potential with his seeing-eye wrister and deceptively fast slap shot release caused havoc for other teams. Although Franson is constantly called out for being slow, I have seen tremendous hustle from the kid over the last season and he paired quite well with Blum on the PP.
It is understood that we have a glut of defensive talent in the pipeline, but it may be overreaching to think these kids will be ready coming from Milwaukee with no prior NHL experience save Laakso in an injury call-up situation. A novice blueline can be a feast or famine instance, and it looks like Poile is willing to wager that next season. Scavenging through the UFA pile right now to find a vet defenseman is tricky and could prove costly. The only real option that sticks out is Bryan McCabe, but how much would it take to land him in the Gold and Blue? Some would say an Anton Stralman might be a good fit. Pair him with Klein and you have a pretty solid PK unit and Stralman being a righty to Klein’s lefty will help move the puck out of the zone and keep it pinned in the opponent’s end.
These questions, along with many other unresolved issues (Weber’s contract, signing Suter and Rinne next year, spending to the cap midpoint, acquiring a top six scorer) may be the ultimate litmus test for David Poile on the heels of a GM of the year nomination. So far, it has been an unimpressive summer filled with the usual “wait and see” approach that Predators fans have grown all too accustomed. Hopefully Poile still have something up his sleeves, but for now, all we can do is either sharpen the pitchforks or save our money to buy the jersey for the “player to be named later.”
I know we had to trade Franson in order to get Lombardi off the books here, but for the life of me I can’t understand how Poile was talked into giving up a 4th if Lombardi doesn’t play 60 games. Bad, bad move.
I also disagree with letting O’Brien go. I disagree with letting Sully go. I’ve stated on other boards that while you can certainly go down the list of players we’ve lost and give reasons why we won’t miss any of them individually, we’ll definitely miss them collectively.
What did we lose? Experience, that’s what. Bouillon’s setback is just more salt in the wound. I’m pretty sure the Preds were depending on him to get better. At this point, even if he does get better what kind of player will he be upon his return? Will he still have an edge to his game or will he become more tentative.
My hope is that Klein will break out into the type of defender we all thought he’d be. This being his third year should bring out a much better player with much better decision making. That’s the hope anyway.
I truly think Klein needs a complimentary player on his right. My view is Stralman being a good fit. His +/- is lacking but he also played on Columbus. I rest my case. If McCabe could be had for say $2M for 1 yr, I say grab him. He’s towards the end of his career, but he can be a great leader, and his PP skills paired with Blum on the second D pairing could be dangerous.
I think Poile’s “wait and see” and “dumpster diving” might have cost us this season, along with the inability like you said to keep decent contributors such as Sully and O’Brien. Not what I expected from someone nominated for GM of the year last season. Fingers crossed that Poile isn’t done before the start of training camp.
Just my $.02
Problem is Poile is punch drunk on the idea of icing all Preds draft picks on defense. I would love to see it someday, but I don’t want it forced on the team before the guys are ready.
I’m sure Poile has something left in his bag of tricks, but until I see it I’m going to consider this one of his worst off seasons to date.
Who needs the leadership of Sullivan, the toughness of O’Brien and the talent of Franson when you can replace all of that with the laziness of Bergfors?
They should’ve kept Lombardi. The way things are going it looks like we actually really NEED that contract in order to spend enough to get full revenue sharing.
Boy, you’ve got that right. I’m really disappointed by this offseason, and whiskey tango foxtrot on the Weber contract? All we heard last summer was how they were going to start negotiations before training camp, they new the ‘zip code’ where they needed to be on Weber’s contract demands and it was going to get done.
I’m tired of the talk.
Albeit I’m not totally sold on Bergfors…he could be the Kostitsyn project of this year, and a bonus is his chemistry with Halischuk. Would love to see this as of right now:
Erat/Fisher/Hornqvist
Wilson/O’Reilly/Kostitsyn
Bergfors/Legwand/Halischuk
Tootoo/Spaling/Smithson
Although this lineup doesn’t strike fear in many hearts, it is salvageable nonetheless with what we have offensively right now. Maybe swap Geoffrion with Wilson if CW can’t step up.
Knew, not new. EDIT BUTTON!
I share in your frustrations. I feel the same way. I’ve felt this way for many off seasons. Sometimes my anxieties are somewhat relieved by the time training camp rolls around and other times I’m one very pissed off fan with the thought that management and ownership don’t care about the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the fans.
However, David Poile and Barry Trotz continue to prove year in and year out that they’re the best at accomplishing feats beyond the expectations of everyone else on the planet. This year will be no exception.
Remember the first season when the Predators made the playoffs? Poile dropped all but two of our defensemen. Gone were: Skrastins, Delmore, Houlder, and Hulse. Timonen, York, and Eaton remained. Welcome in Hamhuis, Zidlicky, Schnabel, Kloucek, and Allison. Schnable and Kloucek didn’t last long. Hutchinson and Neckar saw some time. Hnidy and Bombadir came in at the deadline. Finished the season with Timonen, York, Eaton, Hamhuis, Zidlicky, Hnidy, and Bombadir. Made the playoffs for the first time. It worked out.
This year, we’ll begin with Weber, Suter, Blum, Klein, Lebda, and Laakso. I forsee Ellis and Josi jumping up before the end of the season. I’m sure there’s a guy out there with some toughness who can be brought in. Remember, there’s always the option of a trade. Last year, Poile traded Parent and Andersson for O’Brien. Isn’t it entirely possible he strikes a similar deal again?
One thing to remember about that season is that we had a pretty good offense. We were ranked 12th overall that year. The way our lineup currently sits we’re no better than what we were last season which put us at 21st in the league. If we had an offense in the bottom third of the league back then we would have never made the playoffs.
I feel that 1,2,3,…..ect. dumb ideas just wasn’t enough. We rolled out ALL our dumb ideas at once. We had more than enough opportunities to get real good players,mainly a scoring machine or two, but between ignorance,greed, & lack of understanding the game, we sold out & went”hillbilly dumb. We changed our look (ugly as hell) and changed what we were headed to (the Stanly cup). The only things that were good was getting rid of Sully….yeah yeah,whatever. you may love the guy as i did, but bottom line is he was gonna retire anyways…oh yeah, he sucked. He isnt what he was, we muct realize that. And as for O’Brian, what a suck fest this guy is. He cost us more games than I care to count, including playoffs. You dont make that many dumb plays in such a big game. He was worthless…..well to us. To the opposing teams he was great! So yeah,goodbye! aaaaaand thats it folks. Evey other choice made sucked the ass of a pregnant cow. I know some of you will bitch & moan,whatever. You can say im wrong & dumb…whatever.Bottom line is we will not make it to the playoffs this season with what we have. I can guarantee their will be NO CHANCE IN HELL of us taking the cup. Now if we had kept moving in the direction we were moving last season & used some of that sweet cap money for a good scoring machine then yes, not only would we make the playoffs but take the cup to Nashville EASY! agree or disagree. it matters not as we will not go anywhere this season. mark my words.
Wow…just wow….but I didn’t quite get how you really feel…;) Have to respectfully disagree about Sully and O’Brien. Ward was the only one I didn’t have a problem with losing simply because of the contract he received was way off mark for his regular season production. Sully was a heart and soul guy and while healthy (I know…I know) he was one of the most offensively productive members of our team. O’Brien provided grit and a decent PK presence to help take the burden off of Suter and Weber. What he lacked in offensive production, he made up for in defensive TOI and PK work. Agreed his bonehead moves almost cost us the first round against Anaheim, but considering his PIM for the regular season were the lowest of his career shows Trotz and Co. wrangled him in and O’Brien was starting to gel and mature with our squad. He had an infectious personality (take that any way you wish..lol) and he seemed like a great locker room and on-ice guy when you saw him having fun and building chemistry in the practices at Centennial Sportsplex.
I respect your $.02, just a penny for my thoughts.
Well you know me. im not one to hold back. I feel ward was a big loss to us. He was the guy making plays happen, unfortunately some of our players wanted to get that amazing blue line goal instead of getting a feed to the net,so in some peoples eyes Ward wasnt an asset, but he was trying to get us where we needed to be. we was great in the playoffs.O’Brian just all around was terrible. sure they tried to mold him into a good player, & he would be great for a college team, but not in the NHL.He proved that if not during the regular season but in the playoffs.Yes sully had soul,no doubt, but he is easily injured & a hit or miss kind of player now. We need not just consistency, but good consistency. Now if you really feel that way about Ward,watch some games where he played with Bouillon.Ward fed him the puck & plays were made….in front of the net. My bottom line is this. With the lockouts & pissed off fans of other crappy sports as well as our boys finally taking us to the 2nd round, this season is the most important to really lock in the new fans & allow us to no longer be the underdogs, but a team to reckon with. Now i feel we will be the same old joke we were years ago with Bill Holder…and we will look as ugly as his slap shots with our cheap Jerseys.
I getcha…trust me I want nothing but the best for our Predators and yes Poile should/could have done more this offseason, but the FA market was sketchy for an elite top 6 player. Other than Brad Richards, who stuck out to you?
About Ward. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Ward from 2 years ago, even the season before last, but last season aside from the playoffs, what did Ward really do. He got knocked off the puck way to often, probably our leading culprit of the dump and chase style of hockey, he just wasn’t the same. If we had the same Joel Ward during the regular season that we saw in the playoffs, I would gladly see Poile paying him $3m per for 4 yrs, but it ain’t likely.
I hope we are both wrong and Poile’s gambit of allowing the greenhorns to play and excel at their positions pays off. I, however, usually like to have some veteran experience and even a little insurance in case of injuries which the Preds are the unfortunate recipient.
Hmmm. Sully was our leading scorer for a year and a half before he went out with a groin injury. I don’t get the people who say he’s not what he used to be. If he’s not producing to the level he used to it’s more an indictment on our entire offense than Sully. And if he was going to retire anyway, why is he currently sitting on Pittsburgh’s roster at a very reasonable rate?
As dumb as O’Brien was during the Ducks series he was the complete opposite during the Vancouver series. I’d much rather have him back in the lineup than pray for Bouillon’s recovery or go with three rookies on defense.
As for the uniforms, I didn’t care for the home jerseys at all… until I saw them in person. They’re really sharp looking. I think they give us a really classy look. Most people outside of the Preds fan base have reacted very positively to the changes as well. I think a lot of people will eventually come around. The criticisms I see now remind me of all the criticism that the current thirds received when they were first revealed. Now they’re everyone’s favorite jersey. I think the same may happen with these jerseys. They look great, and I can’t wait to get mine.
D
Any chance of Radulov returning to the NHL this season? I know he just signed a new three year deal with his team in the KHL. However, I read that he can opt out of his contract at anytime. Also possible, the club can void his contract at anytime. This happened with several players last season: Svatos, Wellwood, Nabakov, etc. Teams are struggling financially. So they just cut payroll as needed. He has been very successful during his time there. In fact, he has proven himself to be the best player in the KHL. He needs a new challenge. I’ve been hoping for three years that he returns to Nashville as soon as possible. I still feel that way. Wouldn’t that change everything?
Radulov….Hmmmm….It’s a crazy subject. It’s been a ton of here-say and what not concerning Radulov. Yes, he’slocked into a 3 year contract with the KHL, but we know how he feels about abiding contracts. The KHL and especially teams like SKA St. Petersburg where he plays are struggling with money problems and might not be able to pay his contract after this season. He may come back, but it is nothing to be banked on. Plus, after next year, you run into the problem of him not being eligible as an RFA for the Predators because of his age…so he could screw us again if he waits til after next year to return.
As others have mentioned before, although he is playing lights out hockey in the KHL, it is a bunch of NHL rejects and beyond their prime players. I believe SM-Liiga is a better league in terms of competition than the KHL. I do like how Poile pretty much challenged Radulov is stating that he has accomplished everything that he could do (league MVP and league championship, highest scorer in league history) and that he needs to prove his worth on the bigger stage of the NHL. That kind of gauntlet throw might drive Rads if his team can’t afford him to mosey on back to our fold. Only time will tell, but I’m not holding my breath. Would his offensive skills help? Sure. But would he be a locker room cancer after he burned those bridges with Trotz, Weber, Suter, Leggy, et al? We’ll see.