One major change to give Predators better chance to win Cup

This is going to sound crazy, but bear with me: the more that the Nashville Predators lose, the better chance they have to win the Stanley Cup at the end of the year.

Now, let me begin by admitting that I am higher on the Predators than most people. I said before the season began that they’d boast one of the NHL’s top defenses this year and be a team to watch out for in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately for the Preds, this season has been mediocre. Nashville owns a 23-18-6 record, which puts them two places out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

One major change could turn the tables for the Predators.

While fans undoubtedly were hoping for better results at this stage of the season, one big change could work wonders for Nashville.

One of the most important pieces of a championship team is the head coach, and without the right bench boss in place, teams have little to no chance to hoist the Stanley Cup in the spring.

The one thing that I thought could hold the Preds back in 2023 was the coach. John Hynes has been in charge in Nashville since January 2020, and while he has had success, it has been limited.

Admittedly, Hynes has been a winning coach while with the Predators and in his NHL career as a whole. However, his team’s point percentage this season is .553, which is 19th in the NHL, and that continues a theme of good, not great, results.

Where he has really come up short in the past is in the playoffs, where he is 3-11 in Tennessee and 4-15 overall, dating back to his time with the New Jersey Devils.

I like this Predators roster, especially defensively, but this is not a championship team as long as Coach Hynes is behind the bench. If the Predators go on a losing streak and it costs Hynes his job, that could prove to be beneficial for this team. It seems unlikely, but it may be necessary.

Keep in mind, underachieving teams that made coaching changes mid-season have had success in the past (2016 Pittsburgh Penguins and 2019 St. Louis Blues most recently), so if Nashville decides to make a change, it could set them up to be the next club on that list.