"You need to see where you've been to know where you want to want to go, but right now, our eyes are focused ahead, and I'm really looking forward to a lot of changes to our lineup," Nashville's GM said recently on the Preds Official Podcast. "If there's anything I've learned over the years, it's that whatever I think is going to happen, and what really does happen are often two different things. So, what I mean by that is there's going to be some surprises in training camp, and probably there's going to be some disappointments. Whatever you think I might have down as our starting lineup, I guarantee you that I don't have that accurate, and that's why we have training camp. We let the players decide who's going to be on our team this year."
Six preseason games and a slew of practices in between will eventually bring clarity, but after
an offseason that saw the Predators undergo more changes than they have in recent memory
, everyone is eager to see who will impress, Poile included.
Where will newcomers like forward Cody Glass and defenseman Philippe Myers slot in? Will defenseman Dante Fabbro have a bounce-back season? What steps will forward Eeli Tolvanen take in his second full campaign?
These are just some of the questions Poile addressed in that recent chat, and he, like the rest of us, is ready to find out.
"It's just - it's different every year," Poile said of Training Camp. "I can't exactly describe it, but as I said, some years you feel like you get the chance to win the Stanley Cup, some years you're not sure you're going to make the playoffs. You're always worried about certain players and what they can do or not do, but I think we have so many guys that have a lot of potential, and that's exciting. But I guarantee you that there's going to be somebody that's going to make our team that we maybe even haven't talked about, and I guarantee you there's somebody that's going to disappoint that we have talked about. So, that's just the way it is, and that's why I've got a great job. Every day is exciting, every day is new and different and you just don't know what it's going to bring, but we don't have too much longer to wait to start finding out."
Predators Training Camp begins on Wednesday
with physicals and team meetings, on-ice testing comes Thursday, and the first on-ice practice of camp is set for Friday. From there, the Predators will have exactly 20 days of preparation before the real thing arrives. Those three weeks may seem like plenty of time, but the puck will be dropping soon enough.
So, make your predictions, but write them down in pencil and have an eraser handy. We're about to go to school once more.
"I've read a couple of articles that said we're kind of in the middle, and I kind of agree with that," Poile said. "I've used an expression a little bit, a 'competitive rebuild,' if you will, and I think that we're still a good team with some of the potential of these younger players that hopefully will surprise people. But, that's why it's going to be an interesting Training Camp. That's why it's going to be an interesting year, because I don't think necessarily on paper, you're going to have a lot of people picking us to maybe even make the playoffs. Certainly, I would like to prove a lot of people wrong, and I'm really looking forward to Training Camp because of all the changes."
