Why the Nashville Predators should fire Peter Laviolette

After a disappointing first-round exit in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, huge changes should be coming for the Nashville Predators. Could those changes happen at the expense of head coach Peter Laviolette?

For the second straight season, the Nashville Predators failed to return to the Stanley Cup Final after making it in 2017. This time, though, it feels different. Last season, the Predators ran into a juggernaut in the Winnipeg Jets and were a victim of the playoff format. After losing to the Dallas Stars in embarrassing fashion in six games, changes likely are and should be coming to Nashville.

They say it’s easier to change the coaching staff than it is to change the roster. In Nashville’s case, this is especially true. Due to the salary cap structure of the roster assembled by general manager David Poile, significant change will be hard to come by. Almost all of their best players are locked up long-term. If the Predators want changes this summer (and they should), they’ll have to turn to head coach Peter Laviolette and his coaching staff.

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At the very least, the Predators need to move on from everyone directly responsible for the farce that was the power play. Assistants Kevin McCarthy and Dan Muse both had a hand in it. There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to get PP goals when your options include P.K. Subban, Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund, and Roman Josi. Each of them ranked in the top 100 in power play points per hour from 2015-16 through 2017-18 (minimum 100 minutes).

Even though Laviolette was not directly responsible for the power play failures, his fingerprints are all over them. There’s also the issue of the Predators taking a step back. Even when they lost in the second round in 2018, they won the Presidents’ Trophy. You don’t do that without being one heck of a team. But this season, the Predators were barely recognizable from the past two seasons.

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Nashville should consider trading a number of players. Kyle Turris is probably on top of a lot of fan’s wishlists to be sent out. However, Turris was a quality player with the Ottawa Senators. Laviolette hasn’t been able to get more out of him. Perhaps a coaching change would save what currently looks like a questionable deal.

Getting rid of Laviolette won’t be easy. He signed an extension in 2016 which added two years to his five-year deal he signed in 2014. The precise terms of it are not known, but it probably puts him among the highest paid coaches in the league.

It would also require Poile to go against what he usually does. Some GMs are trigger happy, willing to make a move at a moment’s notice. They almost look for an excuse to change things. Peter Chiarelli is a good example.

Poile falls on the opposite end of the spectrum because he’s extremely patient. Especially when it comes to coaches. In 20+ seasons with the Predators, he’s had two head coaches – Barry Trotz and Laviolette. That’s it.

However, the Predators current way of doing things isn’t working. They still haven’t won a Stanley Cup despite having a very talented roster. Laviolette seemed lost when trying to make adjustments throughout the season and against the Dallas Stars in the postseason.

The Predators Stanley Cup window is closing. They don’t have time to wait and see if Laviolette can fix what he has broken. His history as a coach suggests he’s likely gotten as much out of the Predators as he is going to.

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Laviolette is a good coach. If history repeats itself, he’s going to go somewhere and make them better immediately. But there’s a difference between being a good coach and being the right coach. The past year suggests Laviolette might be the former, but he’s not the latter.

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