Poile's Belief in Preds Leads to Single Move at Trade Deadline

David Poile made a move during Monday's NHL Trade Deadline, but it wasn't one he necessarily would have envisioned making a few months ago.
About an hour after officially acquiring veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defensive prospect Brandon Fortunato and a 2023 seventh-round draft pick, Nashville's general manager spent the first five minutes of his media availability expressing his thoughts on what his club has become this season.
The start was not ideal, and it led many around the League to believe the Predators, for the first time in many seasons - would be looking to trade away players at the deadline as opposed to doing the opposite.

But hockey is about as unpredictable as it gets when it comes to the sporting world, and all of a sudden Poile's team has won 12 of their last 15 games and currently holds the fourth and final playoff position in the Central Division with 13 contests to go in the regular season.
Just as his players and coaches have expressed in recent weeks, Poile feels a completely different vibe around this Predators team, and that sense was enough to cause him to add instead of subtracting on Monday afternoon.
"[My philosophy on the deadline] certainly changed game by game," Poile said. "I just felt all along that we were a better team than we had displayed at the beginning of the season. There were so many factors that went into why we didn't play well, but the good news is that a lot of these things are coming together. I know we have a long way to go in terms of just making the playoffs, but I feel we've kind of been in the playoffs for the last several games. I think these last 13 games are the playoffs right now for our team and for a lot of these young players that we've brought in that are making such a good contribution to our hockey club."
The deal to acquire a player like Gudbranson, a 29-year-old, 6-foot-5 blueliner who will bring plenty of physicality to the lineup, was a top priority to add some depth on defensemen, Poile said. The Predators have been ravaged with injuries - there are currently nine skaters out of the lineup, none of which are expected to return in at least the next three games - and once Gudbranson can clear immigration and complete a quarantine, he will be a welcomed addition.
"All in all, really happy with what's taking place in what I would call the most unusual, and possibly most confusing season that I've been in as a general manager," Poile said. "We're very happy that we made one acquisition, and that was getting defenseman Erik Gudbranson from the Ottawa Senators. Erik is a veteran player, he's a big, physical defenseman, and I think that falls into the theme of the identity that we want our team to play. We've been very banged up all over in our lineup, but especially on defense, and I think Erik certainly gives us some good depth as we head into the last 13 games of the regular season."

Other than that transaction, Nashville's roster remains intact, and while Poile certainly did his due diligence to see what other deals may have been available, he began to change his mind over the past few weeks that he wasn't going to be the one who was trying to help other contenders add to their lineups.
"In my heart, I was not open to [selling], because I believed in this team and wanted to give them a chance," Poile said. "But as a manager, I was taking calls and I was listening, because I think that's free, and why wouldn't I? But I pretty well made up my mind a little while ago based on how things were going that it would have to be something that would be really different than anything that I had heard of or was brought up to me that would make me want to change where we are right now."
For all the optimism that currently surrounds this Predators team, Poile also knows the playoffs are not a guarantee. Nashville has 47 points, but the Dallas Stars figure to be their toughest challenger the rest of the way just six points back with three games in hand. That reality led the GM to weigh his options carefully, but when it came time to make decisions, Poile wasn't ready to part with his group just yet.
"That's really reaching for it to say that we're a Stanley Cup contender right now," Poile said. "I mean, we need to make the playoffs first. That would be a significant step from where we were to get there. It's already been pointed out very correctly that the top three teams in our division [Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida] have been dominant in terms of us playing against them, and we've got to get there and we've got to be able to beat those teams to get into playoffs and then have the confidence that we can beat them in in the playoffs. So, we've got a long way to go.
"I'm not talking Stanley Cup right now, because that's not on the radar right now. The only thing is that we have 13 games to go to play the best that we can do to get into the playoffs. That may happen, I think it's going to happen, but it may not happen. So, all I know is that we made a lot of changes with our club, a lot of things are going the right direction, a lot of younger players are going to be in there, and how I felt to begin the season, or probably more realistically a month into the season, versus how I feel today is like night and day. Much better, much more confident about the future, much more clarity about where we are with our team."
Now that the deadline has passed, this is Poile's team for at least the next month, and what he hopes will be much longer than that. There's no telling where this group will be come mid-May, but if the Predators continue to play with the same identity, tenacity and desire they've displayed over the past month, Poile likes their chances.
So, settle in. Anything can happen in this game, and these Preds have already proven so.
"I'm glad we were a buyer today versus as a seller," Poile said. "That's always a good sign for your franchise in terms of your belief. That clearly shows that you believe in the players, and I think it's a reward for the players, the coaches, the fans that you didn't trade anybody away and that you actually added to your team. It's been really good and exciting the last three weeks, and let's hope it continues that way."