Nashville Predators fail to help themselves

by Dirk Hoag on Mar 4, 2009 4:49 PM EST

On a day when 22 trades involving more than 45 players went down in the NHL, the Nashville Predators failed to make a single acquisition at the Trading Deadline.

As time ticked away, some Preds fans despaired via Twitter, which, was probably the most immediate means of following the trade news and get instant fan reaction. Sometimes folks got ahead of themselves, but if followed the #nhltrade hashtag you got instant updates throughout the day. Anyways, back to the @PredFans...

ericshuff: How did Poile not pull the trigger on Satan or anything? So frustrating.

DonaldWillis: So did Nashville make any deal today whatsoever?

efice32: @DonaldWillis not that we know of

Dark times, indeed, especially after all the talk, both from the players and front office, about obtaining help for the stretch drive. I expect we'll hear some pablum from the team about how they believe in the guys currently on the roster, but the last week of rollicking good fun can't seriously be looked at as a sustainable trend. Everybody knew that offensive help was needed, and nothing was obtained. I'm a big fan of how this organization is run, but today's non-event is a brutal disappointment.

Several players were available that could have helped this team; yes, they all have defects to some extent, but that's why you have a coaching staff that puts players into the position that best allows them and the team to succeed. Miroslav Satan could have been had basically for free, and would have been well suited as a 2nd/3rd line winger and power play specialist, which is the exact hole that Poile had been seeking to fill.

Even if the asking price was too high for other forwards like Bill Guerin or Nik Antropov, then why didn't one of the pending UFA defensemen like Greg de Vries, Greg Zanon, or Ville Koistinen get traded for future assets? The impression one is left with is that Poile's infamous patience got the better of him. While the team on the ice is doing the best they can, the front office just failed in their biggest test of the season.