Barry Trotz: Every Player at Preds Training Camp 'Has a Lot to Prove'

More than two months have passed since he officially moved in, but Barry Trotz’s office at Bridgestone Arena is still a work in progress.

The walls are bare as they await a fresh coat of paint. Sitting in the corner are some Nashville Predators logos and signage, recently removed from the team’s home locker room area as part of a large-scale renovation. In many ways, it’s a metaphor for a team in transition – a team that is, in Trotz’s words, “somewhere between a rebuild and a reset.”

Trotz, the first and longest-tenured head coach in Predators history (15 seasons), has returned to Nashville in a new role as General Manager after spending eight seasons as Head Coach of the Washington Capitals – where he led the franchise to its first-ever Stanley Cup in 2018 – and the New York Islanders. His time away from Nashville gave him new experiences, new perspectives and new ideas on what makes a team great, and he is eager to apply his findings to an organization that holds a special place in his heart.

“I was fortunate to get eyes on other organizations, and it gives me a different perspective,” Trotz said. “I’m going to have fresh eyes on familiar surroundings… It's easy to not see the trees because of the forest sometimes, and I think I've had the opportunity to get out of the forest a bit. There's so many good things that are in place here. That’s the great foundation that [David Poile] laid.”

The Predators have an elite goaltending tandem. They have a Norris Trophy-winning captain. They have a robust crop of prospects, including five first-round picks likely to be on the roster this season for their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee. Put simply, they are a far cry from a team in need of a total rebuild.

“Some people from the outside say if you’re going to go on a full rebuild, then you can burn it down right to the core,” Trotz said. “But I looked at a number of other teams that have sort of taken it right down to the studs, and it's taken them 10-plus years to make it back in the playoffs. I don't think I want to do that. I don't think our market wants to do that. I think there's other ways to do it.”

It would have been easy to look at the moves the Preds made at the 2023 trade deadline and assume that they were going to struggle down the stretch and tumble in the standings to get a higher draft pick. Instead, they stunned the hockey world by winning games and remaining in the playoff race until the season’s final days.

“That is a player's choice,” Trotz said. “It wasn't my choice, or an organizational choice. That was a cultural player's choice. They could have [given up], and they didn't… I love the fact that there was no quit. There was no ‘Oh, woe is me’ feeling [after] we removed a number of good players. What it was was a sense of resilience; a sense of culture.”

The Predators ultimately fell short of their playoff goals last season, but their strong push down the stretch gave Trotz plenty of reason for optimism and confidence in this team moving forward.

“It was a strong message that the young guys have a lot of the right DNA going forward,” Trotz said. “There was also a message that… you can find ways to win even if it looks like you're a little bit undermanned or up against a superior opponent. There is a commitment level, a connection level, physically and emotionally between all those players that was a great sign for the future.”

Indeed, the young players’ success at the end of 2022-23 was impressive, but a 20-game stretch is hardly enough to determine a player’s long-term success. Trotz, wary of the possibility of striking “fool’s gold” down the stretch last season, has tempered his optimism with patience in allowing the young players to continue to develop and reach their full potential.

“I am trying to send a message to our organization,” Trotz said. “I want to give the young players a path to play for us, when they earn it. They have to play themselves out of the American Hockey League if they're playing in the American Hockey League. If they're playing in a lower level, they're going to have to make the American Hockey League and then play themselves out of it. We're going to have five first-rounders, probably, playing in Milwaukee [this season]. I want those guys to be the call-up guys.”

In other words, every move that Trotz has made since taking over as General Manager on July 1 has been a calculated one, designed to create a path for the organization’s young players to enjoy successful careers at the NHL level. He is playing the long game and exercising discipline in his personnel decisions, choosing not to fill roster holes in a manner that produces short-term success at the expense of the young players’ growth and development.

For example, general managers of teams that are rife with young talent will often seek veteran leadership in the form of professional try-out (PTO) signings, typically older players with NHL experience who can be effective at a bargain price. Trotz chose not to go that route, fearing that such signings could block the paths for some of the organization’s rising stars to earn coveted roster spots.

“We've got some developing players,” Trotz said. “Look at the growth of Cody Glass, for instance; I thought he took a huge jump last year. Look at Luke Evangelista; he took a step and looks stronger this year and looks even more confident. Philip Tomasino went through a tough year, and I think he's going to be a way better player for the experience that he had in the last two years. He was on the team, off the team, trying to get back up here; all those things will make him a better player and a more complete player.”

So, if Trotz sees young players like Glass, Evangelista and Tomasino as the future of the franchise, how does signing veteran forwards like Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist create a path forward for them?

“If you don't have all your tools in your toolbox as a player – I’m talking about the mentality, the ability to get up when you get knocked down, the skill set – the NHL is unforgiving in taking your confidence away,” Trotz said. “Piece by piece, you don't know it’s happening, and then all of a sudden you go, ‘I don't know if I can play. I don't know if I can ever score.’ That's why it was really important that we got a Ryan O'Reilly, for instance – so Cody Glass might not have to go head-to-head against Connor McDavid in all 82 games… That is going to eat at your confidence. You’re going to get that total defensive mindset playing against the most top guys and you lose some of the offense. So having guys that can share the load and share their experiences, the good and bad, is really important.”

In Trotz’s mind, creating a path for young players to become full-time NHLers is not about getting rid of all the veterans standing in their way; it’s about surrounding them with the right veterans who can help them develop their skills and their confidence.

“I felt that you have to support your young players with some pieces that can play against top people,” Trotz said. “Support them on the ice, support them off the ice. Lead them the right way. Show them the way to be a pro. And I think we were able to do that. We got some really good quality pieces and a couple of profiles that we didn't have organizationally, so I think we're in a good spot.”

Trotz – and Poile before him – have also been successful in navigating the salary cap era. Aside from core players like Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi, the majority of players under contract with the Preds have fewer than three years remaining on their respective deals. Even with added salary retention from trades and buy-outs, the Predators are well under the salary cap, which gives them flexibility to acquire assets or extend young players who have earned their opportunities.

This year’s training camp will be the first step for those players to start proving themselves and earning their opportunities. Can Glass make another jump like he did last season, or will he plateau at his current level? Can Tomasino get back to the level he was at in 2021-22? Did we see the real Tommy Novak last season, or just a hot version of him? How much offense can Juuso Parssinen produce when he’s healthy for a full season? Can Alexandre Carrier be the 40-point player he was in his rookie season? Will Dante Fabbro have the “breakout” season that has been expected of him? These are the kinds of questions that Trotz and his staff are carrying into training camp.

“I think everybody who’s coming to camp has a lot to prove,” Trotz said. “We have some great opportunities for them, but they also have very limited time. They're first- and second-year guys; that's not a career to me. You're just still trying to find yourself… They’ve got lots to prove. To me, it's about players proving that they can have really good careers, not proving that they can play games in the National Hockey League.”

Competition breeds excellence, and there will be plenty of roster spots up for grabs at this year’s training camp. Trotz wants his players to earn them.

“I want to see players' ceilings,” Trotz said. “There's lots of competition. In this league, there's always someone coming… That's what good drafting and good development does. They're coming; now, do you want to be bypassed, or do you want to be caught, or you want to keep your distance from the next group that's coming?”

The bottom line? The 2023-24 Predators may not be an overnight success, but the best teams rarely are. Trotz wants to build a team of serial winners; for him, it’s personal.

“I can't tell you what the record is going to be,” Trotz said. “No one can. But I feel we’re a team that's in transition, and we're going to be building and trying to go forward every day. We want to win a Stanley Cup here. I feel like I have an extra responsibility to Nashville. It's my home. I'm very connected with Nashville as a city, the Nashville Predators as an organization and in the community. I'm invested. I've always been invested. So, I don't want failure. That's the last thing I want… Mentally, it's a challenge. Physically, it's a challenge. I think we have the DNA to do it, and I think we have the organization and the people to do it well.”