Nashville Predators News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Did John Hynes Fail the Predators or Did the Predators Fail John Hynes?

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Preds
By Ann Kimmel | Last updated 5/31/23

Yesterday the Nashville Predators announced that they were parting ways with John Hynes, the third head coach in the franchise's history after nearly four seasons. The move wasn't entirely unexpected - speculation had been running rampant as incoming GM Barry Trotz applauded but did not affirm Hynes' position as the Predators missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.

Did Hynes Fail the Preds?

There was strong reaction among the fanbase when David Poile named John Hynes the new head coach on January 7, 2020 after a surprising mid season coaching change. Poile was clear when announcing the dismissal of former coach Peter Laviolette that his unhappiness with the status quo was rooted more in the players' on ice performance than issues behind the bench as the Nashville core that had taken the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017 struggled.

Did John Hynes fail Nashville as a head coach? If you ask a portion of the fanbase who disliked this hire from the start, then you would likely hear a resounding "yes". Hynes has been criticized - sometimes fairly and sometimes near hysterically - for most everything that has gone wrong since January 2020. There is plenty of finger pointing when it comes to systems, player utilization, and post season success - or lack thereof.

Hynes does bear responsibility for some of the challenges the team has faced on his watch. He came in married to a system that may not have been the right fit for the team he led. You have to parent the children you have, not the ones you thought you'd have, and the same is true in coaching. Plugging players into a set system where lines are given very specific roles may work well on paper, but if the roster doesn't have the right combination of players and skill sets, a player may end up in a role that overvalues strengths or overlooks weaknesses. It wasn't until Poile made big moves at the trade deadline and veterans went down with injuries midway through this season that fans felt Hynes let loose his monogamous hold on a particular system and starting coaching the players he had.

Player utilization was a concern during Hynes' time in Nashville, and there is no easier way to get a rise out of most Preds fans than to mention the name "Eeli Tolvanen". The lack of clarity on Tolvanen's role was frustrating to a fan base who had been waiting to see this particular player become an NHL staple in Nashville, and the outcry when Tolvy was placed on waivers grew exponentially. The first round draft pick never found the niche spot that he eventually found success in with Seattle. The same criticism has been said about Hynes' handling of Phil Tomasino and even Cody Glass.

One of the big items on Hynes' "to do" list when he came to Nashville was to get the Predators back to being a deep postseason team. After making the Stanley Cup Finals and winning the President's Trophy in 2018, Nashville struggled to make a playoff run. They were eliminated in the second round in 2018 and hadn't made it out of the first round since. Hynes needed to take this Predators team and push it a bit further down the postseason road to be considered a success.

That didn't happen.

Under Hynes, Nashville was eliminated in the play-in round in 2020, the first round in 2021, swept by Colorado in 2022, and missed the playoffs entirely this season.

Did the Preds Fail John Hynes?

There is plenty of criticism for Hynes, but it is important to ask whether the organization set their third ever head coach up for success to being with. When John Hynes was hired, the front office believed the core of this team was still able to compete at a top level in the league. Despite the challenges since their Stanley Cup run, Poile clung to this hoping the core group could do enough to eventually get back to league prominence.

The hope over the last few seasons hung on finding supplementary players who could push the team over the top. Going all in on that thought, Poile brought in players like Nino Niederreiter and Ryan McDonagh this season to compliment a core he still believed in.

That wasn't the team Hynes inherited.

Yes, players like Filip Forsberg, Matt Duchene, Roman Josi, and Juuse Saros had career seasons under Hynes, but they didn't have consistent performances during his tenure. Some would argue that failure to reproduce top stats should land at Hynes' feet, but those same people aren't willing to give him any credit for the players' improvements either.

Despite remarkable seasons for some players, the team as a whole wasn't a roster that could compete at the top of the league. This group that was just a few pieces away from Stanley Cup contention, well...wasn't that group in reality. Poile admitted as much when he decided to pivot to this new "reset" that will focus on developing promising young players alongside some (but perhaps not all) of those veteran standouts. Hynes found himself coaching a team that no longer existed - if it had in fact at all - and when faced with a torn down roster from trade and injury, he got the team within a few wins of the playoffs.

It will take time and reflection and perhaps some frank revelations from the parties involved to fully understand what did and didn't work with John Hynes in Nashville. Some of the takeaways that fans have about Hynes may prove to be wrong entirely if and when he lands in another coaching position in the league. Perhaps now that Poile and Trotz are clear on who this team is and where they need to go to get back to Cup contention, the new head coach can accurately assess and coach the team he is truly inheriting.

Just like in any relationship that ends, it takes time to understand what went wrong and what the takeaways for each party may be down the road. Here's hoping the Predators move onward and upward - even if it is at a rebuilding pace - and that John Hynes continues his coaching career with future success.

Predators Coaching Situation Getting Messy

Admirals Take Game Three in AHL Western Conference Series

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Preds and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: