Ownership 'angry and confused' by Predators' struggles

The Nashville Predators have a roster seemingly built for success, but as the team continues to struggle, ownership is looking for answers.

"Whether you're an owner of the team, if you're (general manager) David Poile, if you're me, if you're a player, it feels the same way. Everyone's angry and confused," team president and CEO Sean Henry said to The Athletic's Adam Vingan. "We all believed that this roster would produce more."

The Predators currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division with a 6-10-0 record. The team finished fourth in the division last season but ultimately failed to make the postseason after losing in the play-in qualifying round.

Poile has made quite a few big moves over the last few years and has earned a reputation around the league as a general manager not afraid to shake up his roster. Most recently, he made a big splash in free agency in 2019 by reeling in Matt Duchene and signing him to a seven-year, $56-million deal.

Despite some moves that may have not played out as expected, Henry reaffirmed the organization's faith in Poile moving forward. When asked if ownership has the appetite to make significant changes, including potentially moving along from Poile, he was quick to dismiss the notion.

"He is not afraid to make moves, but he doesn't make them just to make them," Henry said. "He makes moves to be calculated, and it's been a pretty good run that we're on.

"If any of us weren't seeing things the same way, we'd obviously have to look at different changes, but there is no discussion about, 'Oh, let's get an axe right now,' because that's what we're seeing on Twitter."

Poile has been Nashville's only general manager since the team began playing in 1998.

Copyright (C) 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.