Brian Boyle’s Disappointing Tenure With The Nashville Predators

At the trade deadline, every team looks for the missing piece they think will lead them to the Stanley Cup. The Nashville Predators thought they found multiple, including forward Brian Boyle, who was a feel-good story until him and the Predator’s season ended in disappointment.

After a Stanley Cup final appearance in 2017 and a Presidents Trophy in 2018, the Nashville Predators early first-round exit from the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs was more than a bit disappointing. An offensive that struggles to produce, mixed with Pekka Rinne not playing at 2017 levels lead the Dallas Stars to win in a six-game effort.

One of the most disappointing aspects of their rarely round exit was that general manager Dave Poile was aggressive and active around the trade deadline to acquire depth pieces for a deep cup run. The most substantial was Nashville incredibly overpaying for Wayne Simmonds, who was in the midst of having one of the worst seasons of his career in Philadelphia.

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Then there was the shocking trade of shipping away promising younger Kevin Fiala to Minnesota for Mikael Granlund. Their first move, however, was acquiring veteran forward Brian Boyle from the New Jersey Devils.

Boyle has become well-known around the NHL since last season. After a career that saw him spend time with the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, and New York Rangers, it was after signing a free agency deal with the New Jersey Devils in 2017 when he discovered he was diagnosed with leukemia, but prevailed to play through his treatments. In addition to being the NHL’s feel-good story, he quietly became known as a nice player and bottom six forward with the Devils.

With their season all but lost, Boyle was put on the trade block and taken by Nashville in exchange for the second round pick. Nashville intended to use Boyle as a replacement for then suspended Austin Watson and to give a boost to their power play.

Devils fans were thrilled with the return they got, especially considering Boyle is a third line player at best. Not only that, but Devils fans were genuinely happy to see Boyle go to a contender. After all he’s been through in the past year with his own adversity, no one deserved to raise the cup more than the reigning Masterton Trophy winner.

Even though his production was never head turning in New Jersey, his numbers in Nashville were a career worst. Throughout 26 games in Music City, Boyle only scored five goals, with zero assists.

Over an 82 game schedule, that would put him at just under 16 points. In the first half of the season with New Jersey, he had 13 goals and 6 assists for 19 points, roughly putting him on pace to eclipse the 23 points he had last season.

As for the playoffs, Boyle was a significant contributor, considering he didn’t play every game. Going into the playoffs, Boyle had an appendix removal that only had him see action in half of Nashville’s first round series. Still, in those three games he was pick up two assists. Surprisingly they were the only two assists scored throughout his tenure in Nashville.

Boyle’s physicality was also felt by the Stars. In the April 10th game, Boyle’s last before being lost to his appendix issue, Boyle put his big frame to use with a hit along the boards to Jason Dickinson, much to the ire of Dallas fans. That hit might down and his memorable, and iconic, moment in a Predators sweater.

Now that the Predators have cleaned out their lockers and moved on for the summer (please let this mean P.K. Subban will be doing commentary for remaining playoff games), Boyle announced he is open to a contract extension to stay in Nashville.

After the hefty price Nashville paid for the trio, you’d expect them to be in as much “win now” mode as the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a lackluster showing of offense when it counted most against Dallas, all three ended up being overshadowed by Rocco Grimaldi, who quietly found a place with the Predators, and Austin Watson, who Boyle was bought in to replace.

Is Brian Boyle worth bringing back for Nashville? Even if it was only a short-term partnership, the Predators invested pretty heavily in him by giving away that second round pick. If Nashville and Boyle can’t come to terms, Boyle will have no shortage of suitors.

Still, the fact that someone who came with such fanfare of being the inspirational leader to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, David Poile might be having a bit of buyer’s remorse.

Boyle came to the Predators with high expectations but didn’t live up to them. He ends this year just like his last, with a first-round playoff exit. Nashville may have been fun, but his tenure was unfortunately forgettable.