Poile Looks Back on Unique Season, Sets Sights Playoff Run for Preds

David Poile called it the hardest season he's ever been a part of.
Considering Nashville's general manager, who has held that title in the NHL for the past 39-consecutive campaigns, had those words to describe the past four-plus months, that's saying something.
And yet, there was Poile, seated on a Zoom call inside Bridgestone Arena on Friday morning, discussing the state of his club about to make their seventh-straight postseason appearance and their 14th since 2004, the latter number a feat tied for the second-most among all NHL clubs over that span.

We've all come a long way since that first puck drop on Jan. 14, as the 2020-21 version of the Preds began their journey, a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets played in front of just a smattering of family and friends in Nashville. When the Predators return home from Carolina for Games 3 and 4 late next week, there will be more than 12,000 fans seated - or likely standing - in their home barn.
This team has made a sometimes-unfathomable turnaround too, with just about everyone on the outside leaving them "for dead," as Poile said, when they were 10 points out of a playoff spot as the final two months of the regular season arrived.
The run the Preds went on has been well documented by now, and it allowed the Predators to clinch the fourth and final spot in the Central Division last Saturday night - a tense, 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes - to perfectly set up Nashville's first-round matchup against Carolina.
Next, after 56 regular-season games that featured 12 rookies and 34 players in total dressing for at least one of those contests, the Predators once again have their ticket to the dance.
"If I was writing a book, I would be doing a lot of editing," Poile said about what he imagined the season might look like four months earlier. "I mean, the pandemic, COVID threw a wrench at us right away at training camp, we've had seven or eight babies born on our team this year, the poor start that we had, some individual things, some team things - there's just so many different variables this this year that I don't think anybody could have totally seen it from a competitive standpoint. I thought this would be a hard year to make the playoffs… So, we all went through different things, we learned a lot about each other, it was a unique year…and it was the hardest season that, for a lot of reasons, that I've participated in."

There are also plenty of reasons the Predators found their way to the postseason with a run of points in 21 of their final 28 games, and exhibit A might just be goaltender Juuse Saros who truly established himself as a starting netminder this season.
Now, the 26-year-old Finn, with fellow countryman Pekka Rinne continuing to serve as his backup, has a chance to take another massive stride forward over the next two weeks.
"The playoffs are a new level, and oftentimes careers are defined by what you do in the playoffs," Poile said. "Obviously, the next step for Juice is to lead our team in some playoff victories and winning some series, so this is important for him…and this is his time. He's certainly a prime reason why we're going to be playing Carolina, why we got into the playoffs. There's a lot of reasons, but he's right at the top of the list, and I really think this is going to be the next step for Juice with our team and organization, really to solidify himself as a No. 1 goaltender, to help lead us in the playoffs here against Carolina."
Improved play across the lineup from outside the crease has also contributed greatly to Nashville's recent success, and the infusion of youth into the roster - sometimes by choice, others by necessity - has had the desired effect with different players stepping up on different nights, no matter the ask.
Whether a player has two games of NHL experience or 200, the incredible depth throughout the organization has also been on display. The abilities shown by so many are certainly not a bad problem to have entering into Game 1 on Monday night, but it's created some tough decisions elsewhere in the meantime.
While the starting goaltender for the Preds isn't in question, Head Coach John Hynes and his staff have some choices to make, but as Poile explained, others who are left to watch Game 1 may not have to wait long for their turn.
"The coaches really have their hands full this year based on all the players that we've used," Poile said. "We knew we were going to have at least 30 or more players, and that's hard to balance on a daily basis for practices and keeping everybody happy, so I really do believe that the coaches have done a good job in that area. Having said that, there's no chance that we have everybody that's going to be totally 100 percent happy when the lineup is announced for Game 1. But, as John has told the players on a consistent basis, especially in the second half of the season, when we play our best hockey is when the Predators play a certain way, and whoever's in the lineup, we're going to continue to play that way.
"The message is to anybody who doesn't dress in Game 1 is: 'Please work hard, be ready to go, this is a decision for one game.' I think, win or lose, no guarantees on this, but I would say our lineup for Game 2 in Carolina will be different by two or three players. I just think that's the type of year that it's been. We're going to see something that we like when we play Carolina in Game 1 and something that we're not going to like. There's going to be a player that's more suited to play, or to make a change, and I think it's our depth that's actually put us in the playoffs with the changes that we've made almost on a game-by-game basis. It seems like every time we've had to put somebody new in the lineup, we've actually gotten stronger for it… We're used to using different players, and we think the depth of our organization right now might be one of the keys to the series, especially if it's a seven-game series."
With 16 more points in the regular-season standings, the Central Division champion Hurricanes are entering the series as favorites over the Preds, but there's simply nothing more unpredictable than playoff hockey.
As of now, these Predators will be remembered as the team who seemed to be out of options as their season slipped away. But again, the unpredictability factor is strong.
They'd like to be known for something more than just the club that found a way into the dance, and it's time for the real fun to begin.
"We were left for dead by just about everybody, so I think it's tremendous work, what we've done and where we've come from," Poile said. "I'm very proud of that, but now we're in the playoffs, and our goal, eventually, is to win a Stanley Cup and we're up against it. Carolina's the second or third-best team based on points this season, and if they would have beaten us [at the end of the season], they would have won the Presidents' Trophy. They're a top team, and there's nobody in the few things that I've heard or read about that's picking us to win this series, so I'm going to find out a lot about our team and about the individuals on our team.
"I'd like to, as best possible, enjoy the time here because it's been a difficult season, but there's lots of things to be positive about for where we are and what our chances are. There's also a lot of things to be positive for going forward, but we all know that there's always changes in an offseason. We will get to that after our season ends, and hopefully that will not be in the near future."