Former Islanders Head Coach & Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz Not Pleased, Inching Close To Starting A Rebuild After Money-Spending Summer

We are a week into November, and one NHL team is already on the verge of blowing up its roster and beginning a rebuilding process.

That team is the Nashville Predators, and their general manager, former New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz, is not pleased with their start to the season.

Related: Injury-Plagued Islanders Rallying Together, Finding Success

They are at the bottom of the Central Division, playing to a 4-8-1 record through 13 games.

The Predators are not the same team they were a year ago, a team that battled to win the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference before falling 4-2 to the Vancouver Canucks in a winnable series.

This is a different team after who Trotz went out and got this summer.

He signed former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, 34, to a four-year, $32 million deal. He inked former Vegas Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault, 33, to a five-year, $27.5 million, and former Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Brady Skjei, 30, to a seven-year deal, $49 million.

Not to mention, Trotz also decided to trade his top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov, 22, to the San Jose Sharks, signing starter Juuse Saros, 29, to an eight-year deal worth $61.92 million.

Trotz was expecting better, but now his patience seems to be running thin.

“If we don’t get it going, then I’m going to start our rebuild plan,” Trotz said. “What we did in the summer is what they call fantasy hockey, until we become a good team. If we don’t become a good team, then we are going to see a lot more of our kids starting that process.”

Whether this is Trotz’s way of trying to give his team, especially the vets, a kick in the you know what, or he’s being dead serious, it’s certainly major news given the money spent ($111.5 M total, not including Saros).

Could we see some other teams that doubled down on rosters that didn’t win go that route?