"Ultimately, I'm the one who's responsible," Laviolette said. "I take the blame of things that don't go well on this team. I'm not running from it. Ultimately, everything runs through me. There's not a meeting or a message that doesn't go on inside of this room that's not mine, so it's me and I've got to be better with what I'm doing, because the messaging that I'm sending down throughout the ranks to the coaches, to the players, it didn't work. As we move forward, we try to learn from it. Like David said, there will be meetings, we'll dissect this, we'll look at it and try to do what's best for the team to get the power play back on track.
"Our objective is to be successful in the playoffs, so ultimately it's not good enough."
When the Predators look back on this season months and years from now, it will likely be viewed in two ways. One, it'd be difficult to say that a Central Division title wasn't a success. Conversely, this team is now in a position to not only make the playoffs year after year, but realistically compete for a Stanley Cup.
It's expectations like those that will drive the discussion over the summer, and there is plenty to figure out. After all, Sept. 12, the opening of training camp to the 2019-20 season, isn't all that far off.
And at this time next year, those in charge expect to be talking about their thriving power play heading into the second round.
"My job, and our collective job, is to address and assess everything we do with the goal of making the necessary changes to put us in a position to go further," Poile said. "Having said that, I believe the Predators have the foundation of one of the better teams in the National Hockey League… But, clearly, what we had this season didn't meet our expectations or yours. Our responsibility in the coming days and weeks is to figure out why and have us ready to go in September."