With 5 straight losses, it's time for a serious shake-up for the Nashville Predators. Just as medical personnel restart a heart that's spasming by shocking it with electricity, Barry Trotz needs to send a strong signal to his team that business as usual can't continue any further.
We all know something needs to change, but what exactly? I'll toss out a few options here, but I'd like to get your input in the comments below:
- Break up the Kevin Klein/Dan Hamhuis pairing, and go with Hamhuis/Weber, then Suter/Klein. We might get more out of Ryan Suter by making him the lead dog on the 2nd pair, rather than play in Weber's shadow on the top unit.
- Give Cody Franson all the PP time he can handle.
- Call up Colin Wilson for some 3rd-line and PP work.
- Move Martin Erat up alongside Jason Arnott and Steve Sullivan, as it seems that he and David Legwand just don't mix well.
- Reunite the Sullivan-Arnott-Dumont line, which hasn't been together in a long time.
- Revise the old "shutout" rule - instead of rewarding a goalie who gets a shutout with the next start (a tradition that Trotz foolishly abandoned recently), reward him with the next 5 starts. See if that gets a rise out of somebody.
- If David Poile is lining up potential trades for the deadline, go ahead and pull the trigger now.
Well? Anybody got any other bright ideas?