The 47-year-old guided the Predators to a 45-30-7 record this season, earning the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round,
The Predators have lost their first postseason series in each of Hynes' three seasons, leaving the organization to figure out how to take that elusive next step.
"To be able to be extremely competitive, your top players, your core players that played big minutes that you're expecting to drive a team on and off the ice, drive identity ... there's still lots of good hockey ahead of them," Hynes said. "You need to have those top guys be drivers. Your top players are drivers of how you want to play and drive your culture."
Nashville had three players get at least 80 points (Roman Josi, 96; Matt Duchene, 86; Filip Forsberg, 84) for the first time in its history this season, including two 40-goal scorers (Duchene, 43; Forsberg 42). The Predators scored 262 goals, second most in their history (266 in 2006-07).
"At the end of the year, we sat with [the top players] and said, 'We have great relationships, you had a great year ... how do you guys get one percent better?'" Hynes said. "And let's not expect this continue. It's like any relationship. We have to communicate more through the summer.
"It's an ever-changing thing. How do we get better? How do we strengthen relationships? ... To me, the most important thing is being on the same page with the communication and the expectations of what they need from me, but also what I need from them."
Hynes is 92-64-10 in three seasons with Nashville since replacing Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7, 2020.
"I think our coaches have done a fantastic job," general manager David Poile said. "John is a young coach who has a lot more experience than probably we give him credit for. He has not been dealt with a perfect hand. I'm responsible for that. John deserves this. We're growing together. I am totally comfortable with John and our coaching staff to lead us to bigger and better things moving forward."
Prior to joining Nashville, Hynes coached the New Jersey Devils for five seasons, going 150-159-45 and guiding them to the playoffs in 2018, when they lost in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
"We are here to build a team that can contend for and ultimately win the Stanley Cup," Poile said. "This year we made progress, but by no means are we satisfied. We obviously didn't get there this year. The season and playoff series shows we have a ways to go to reach our ultimate goal."
