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With a surprising rout of the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on April 16, the Nashville Predators' season is officially over.
Despite an impressive outing against the playoff-bound Stars — five Predators players scored to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 victory — Nashville concluded one of their worst seasons in franchise history, finishing in seventh place in the Central and with its fewest points (68) in an 82-game season since 2002.
"(The Stars) are going to the playoffs and we're not. It's not a good feeling," said forward Ryan O'Reilly, who finished with three points in the win. "Coming up the next few days, we'll have a lot of self-reflection and conversations and just start preparing for next year."
Nashville (30-44-8, 68 points) is guaranteed a top-five pick in the 2025 NHL draft, including an 11.5% chance of earning the top pick. The last time the Predators selected in the top five was 2013, when they took defenseman Seth Jones at No. 4.
A decisive win in the home finale over a division rival was a nice parting gift for fans who'd stuck out a wretched season — but in the end, it won't be enough to forget a season of disappointment and losing.
This is not lost on coach Andrew Brunette, who acknowledged that days and weeks of reflection and tough conversations are ahead.
"Personally, I will probably lock myself up for a while and try for some solutions of what happened and how I can be better," Brunette said. "Like I talked about with the players . . . let the fog settle, see a little clearer, and I'll have a much better idea of what I did wrong, what I can do better and what our team can do better."
Brunette added that it was the lack of offense that bothered him the most about this season.
"The lack of goal scoring is mind-boggling to me," Brunette said. "That's going to keep me up at night, probably until training camp. Especially with the way I like to play and the things we like to do . . . it was hard to watch a little bit."
The Predators scored 2.59 goals per game this season, down from 3.24 last season, despite adding proven goal-scorers Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to the roster.
"You feel bad for your players. Everybody just had off years. That happens in our game, unfortunately. It kind of happened all at the same time," Brunette said.
Another lesson Brunette learned was how to handle a room full of proven winners who are suddenly and regularly faced with losing.
"How to deal with some different personality issues with having starts like we did," he said. "I haven't had to deal with that before."
STAMKOS ON SEASON: Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos on this season: 'Sucked into the negativity'
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Andrew Brunette reveals lessons learned from lost season
Continue reading...
Despite an impressive outing against the playoff-bound Stars — five Predators players scored to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 5-1 victory — Nashville concluded one of their worst seasons in franchise history, finishing in seventh place in the Central and with its fewest points (68) in an 82-game season since 2002.
"(The Stars) are going to the playoffs and we're not. It's not a good feeling," said forward Ryan O'Reilly, who finished with three points in the win. "Coming up the next few days, we'll have a lot of self-reflection and conversations and just start preparing for next year."
Nashville (30-44-8, 68 points) is guaranteed a top-five pick in the 2025 NHL draft, including an 11.5% chance of earning the top pick. The last time the Predators selected in the top five was 2013, when they took defenseman Seth Jones at No. 4.
Andrew Brunette reveals biggest lessons from Predators' lost season
A decisive win in the home finale over a division rival was a nice parting gift for fans who'd stuck out a wretched season — but in the end, it won't be enough to forget a season of disappointment and losing.
This is not lost on coach Andrew Brunette, who acknowledged that days and weeks of reflection and tough conversations are ahead.
"Personally, I will probably lock myself up for a while and try for some solutions of what happened and how I can be better," Brunette said. "Like I talked about with the players . . . let the fog settle, see a little clearer, and I'll have a much better idea of what I did wrong, what I can do better and what our team can do better."
Brunette added that it was the lack of offense that bothered him the most about this season.
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"The lack of goal scoring is mind-boggling to me," Brunette said. "That's going to keep me up at night, probably until training camp. Especially with the way I like to play and the things we like to do . . . it was hard to watch a little bit."
The Predators scored 2.59 goals per game this season, down from 3.24 last season, despite adding proven goal-scorers Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to the roster.
"You feel bad for your players. Everybody just had off years. That happens in our game, unfortunately. It kind of happened all at the same time," Brunette said.
Another lesson Brunette learned was how to handle a room full of proven winners who are suddenly and regularly faced with losing.
"How to deal with some different personality issues with having starts like we did," he said. "I haven't had to deal with that before."
STAMKOS ON SEASON: Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos on this season: 'Sucked into the negativity'
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at [email protected]. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators' Andrew Brunette reveals lessons learned from lost season
Continue reading...
