Vingan: Predators ownership can no longer stay silent about direction of franchise

Predators chairman Herb Fritch does not watch the team he co-owns from a luxury suite at Bridgestone Arena.

The Day 1 season-ticket holder, whose health care company was acquired in 2011 for $3.8 billion, sits in the lower bowl and blends in with the fans, many of whom probably would not recognize him if he bumped into them on the concourse.

Fritch prefers it that way. He and the 16 other members of the Predators’ ownership group take a hands-off approach to running the franchise, leaving president Sean Henry and general manager David Poile in charge of day-to-day operations. Among their duties is to speak on the owners’ behalf.

That worked for a while, but not anymore. Poile in particular has become an unreliable narrator when it comes to discussing the direction of the team.

After the Predators were swept out of the playoffs for the first time in their history, ownership must respond.

Even before Juuse Saros suffered an injury that torpedoed the Predators’ already slim chances of competing with the Colorado Avalanche, there was a palpable sense of resignation within the fan base. To the Predators’ consumers, just making the playoffs stopped being good enough a long time ago.

Compared to the wild crowds that made Nashville a bucket-list destination for hockey fans, the atmosphere inside Bridgestone Arena during Games 3 and 4 was largely subdued. It was loud when warranted, but overall, it did not feel the same. That should concern ownership.

Also of concern: A team that had a pair of 40-goal scorers (Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg), the NHL’s first 90-point defenseman in nearly 30 years (Roman Josi), the rookie leader in goals (Tanner Jeannot) and an All-Star goaltender (Saros) squeaked into the playoffs in the final week of the regular season before being outclassed.

If the series with the Avalanche proved anything, it is that the gap between the Predators, who have not won a playoff round in four years, and the upper-echelon teams in the NHL is chasmic.

There does not appear to be a clear path toward closing that gap in the near future. Successful on-the-fly or “competitive” rebuilds require up-and-coming stars. The Predators have none, with the exception of Saros, who reportedly will be named a Vezina Trophy finalist Tuesday.

That falls on Poile, who lately has had more misses than hits in the transaction department. His decision to protect Jeannot in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft last summer was a savvy one, and Duchene’s career year took some of the stink off the big contract Poile gave him in free agency three years ago. Otherwise, it is hard to recall the last move Poile made that clearly worked.

This was Poile’s 29th playoff appearance as a GM, passing longtime Detroit Red Wings executive Jack Adams for the most in league history. Poile is 1-for-29 in getting his teams to the Stanley Cup Final and 2-for-29 in getting them to the conference finals. Ten GMs, including Poile, have at least 100 playoff wins on their resumes, but he is one of three without a championship.

Former Predators chairman Tom Cigarran, who is still part of the ownership group, told The Tennessean in 2018 that Poile “has a contract that keeps renewing automatically.”

If that is the case, then how is Poile held accountable? Players get traded. Coaches get fired. Poile has done both of those things, but what repercussions does he face? What is the plan for when Poile, 72, is no longer GM? Would the organization benefit from adding someone with a fresh perspective to the front office? Is ownership’s primary goal to rake in playoff revenue, even if it is only a couple of games? These questions (and others) need to be answered.

This is not to say that the Predators should sever all ties with Poile, which is difficult to imagine. He should be commended for all he has done for the organization over 25 years, building playoff-caliber teams with limited resources for much of his tenure.

Nothing lasts forever, though. Poile holds the titles of GM and president of hockey operations. Perhaps it is time to separate those roles and hire someone who works in tandem with Poile but has the final say over personnel decisions.

The Predators have many critical decisions to make this summer. Coach John Hynes’ contract is up. The team has made strides under his watch, but he has three playoff wins since taking over in the middle of the 2019-20 season. (The news out of New York on Monday that the Islanders had fired coach Barry Trotz sent Predators Twitter into a tizzy.)

Forsberg’s pending free agency hangs over everything. He had one goal against the Avalanche. How much are the Predators willing to spend to keep him? Whatever the amount, it will probably be too much.

Ownership has to sign off on these big moves, which is why it is important to hear from Fritch.

All of the Predators’ owners are or were highly successful businesspeople, so they know a floundering product when they see one. On the ice, the Predators have hit a point of diminishing returns.

Ownership can no longer stay silent.

(Photo: John Russell / NHLI via Getty Images)