Poile: 'All options are on the table' as Predators aim to improve

Nashville Predators general manager David Poile insists he's open to anything that will improve his team ahead of the 2020-21 season.

"Some players aren't going to be brought back. ... We're not satisfied, and going to make some changes. We have to manage better, John (Hynes) and his staff have to coach better, and players have to play better," Poile said, according to NHL.com's Mike Morreale.

"All options are on the table for making our team better for the 2020-21 season," he added, according to the team's director of digital and radio, Thomas Willis.

The Predators were knocked out of the qualifying round after falling to the Arizona Coyotes in four games. Nashville has failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

Poile criticized the team's second line, which often featured Matt Duchene, Kyle Turris, and Mikael Granlund. Duchene, who inked a seven-year, $56-million deal last summer, managed only 42 points in 66 regular-season games and two points in four postseason contests.

"The second line was a weak point of our team," Poile said. "They did not get it done."

Poile did praise the play of Norris Trophy candidate Roman Josi and the resurgence of his top line comprised of Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, and Viktor Arvidsson.

Nashville has just six players in need of new contracts this offseason, including forwards Granlund and Craig Smith as well as defensemen Yannick Weber and Dan Hamhuis.

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