‘I need more’: Predators GM Trotz targets players, not coaches, for struggles

Barry Trotz is no longer hiding his frustration.

The general manager of the Nashville Predators has had to answer for a second straight season where his team sits at the bottom of the NHL standings, struggling to find its form.

Trotz did not hide his desire to see what he needs from the team.

“I need more (intent) from them,” Trotz said, per Tennessee. “I need more.”

The Predators seemed to be trending when Trotz made big moves in free agency before last season to add key forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.

Instead, the Predators sit at the bottom of the standings with a league-worst 49 goals (2.29 per game).

Considering the talent on the team, Trotz seemed to be concerned with the group as a problem.

“The frustrating thing, the frustrating thing for everybody is that we just don’t score,” he said. Tennessee On November 21. “You look at the names on our roster, we should score more. Because we have (Filip) Forsberg, Stamkos, Marchesault, we all think we’re going to score.

The Predators’ general manager said he doesn’t believe the coaching staff is the problem with the team — instead, he said the players should do better.

When asked if he would make a coaching change to spark his team, Trotz said it was the right way to get his team back on track.

“In the next few weeks, all over the league, somebody’s going to get fired. You’re going to see it, it’s just going to happen,” Trotz said. “And what you’re going to hear from every (frustrating) player is, ‘Oh man, we just underperformed. He was a really good coach. We’ve got to get better.’ And it turns everyone off the hook. They go, ‘Well, it was him, not us.’

Trotz also pointed to other ways he has motivated the team as a coach in the past, such as two seasons ago when he canceled a trip to see the band U2 at The Spear in Las Vegas that resulted in the team going on an 18-game point streak and clinching a playoff berth.

The former coach also offered on-ice suggestions on how his team could get on track.

“We have to be the greasers sometimes,” he said. “We’ve got to go a little bit more at home. As much as we try to reinvent the game, skill and off the rush, sometimes you have to be a little bit faster. The inside goals still count as much.”

If his team doesn’t start turning around, Trotz knows he may have to consider more drastic changes.

“We’ve got some pieces. The list is not complete. Some of them are, a little bit, building the list,” he said. “I take responsibility. I think the coaches take a little bit, and I think the players do too. Everything is a partnership.”