From left, the Nashville Predators' Mikael Granlund, Miikka Salomaki, Filip Forsberg and Kyle Turris watch as coach Peter Laviolette, center rear, gives instructions during the third period of Game 4 against the Dallas Stars on April 17 in Dallas.NASHVILLE - The Nashville Predators had every piece in place for another long playoff run in pursuit of the Stanley Cup - or so they thought.
Now they have a longer offseason than they had hoped for, but with it extra time to fix the NHL's worst power play and address the deficiencies that proved so costly on their way to being ousted in the postseason's opening round for the first time since 2015.
"It is disappointing for so many people for us to be here today," general manager David Poile said Wednesday. "Everything seemed to be in place in my mind. On paper, I believe we had a team that could compete for the Stanley Cup."
Poile didn't have any answers for what went wrong when he and coach Peter Laviolette met with reporters. Last summer, the Predators asked Poile to keep their team together after the Presidents' Trophy winners lost a Game 7 in the second round. Poile said he believed they had reason to give that group another opportunity.
The Predators became the first team to repeat as Central Division champs in a decade, only to lose in six games to Dallas. The series finished Monday night as the host Stars won 2-1 in overtime and advanced to a Western Conference semifinal series against the St. Louis Blues.
"We targeted this year to be our year, to obviously take another step forward and to get to our ultimate goal of winning the Cup," Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban said. "Our trajectory sort of went the other way where we went to the Cup Final, then second round, and now obviously with a first-round knockout, it's a tough pill to swallow."
The Predators lost the 2017 Stanley Cup Final in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins before being knocked out in the conference semis by the Winnipeg Jets a year ago.
Poile said he plans to look at himself and management, Laviolette and his assistants and the players themselves. Laviolette took responsibility for the power play woes and graded himself poorly.
"Our objective is to be successful in the playoffs, so ultimately it's not good enough," said Laviolette, who's under contract through the 2020-21 season.
There's clearly work to be done to get back to a higher level.
Not only were the Predators the NHL's worst team with the man advantage during the regular season, they went 0-for-16 on power plays against Dallas. Four came in Game 6, including in the final two minutes of regulation, yet they didn't convert.
Laviolette said he tried everything from switching the assistant in charge of the power play two-thirds of the way through the season to team meetings to hiring an outside consultant. Poile traded for both Brian Boyle and Wayne Simmonds to help, which didn't happen. Now both Simmonds and Boyle, who returned a week after having his appendix removed in the playoffs and said he'd like to remain with the team, will be free agents this summer.
The top line of Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen had quite the regular season. Arvidsson set the franchise record for single-season with 34 - despite playing just 58 games due to a broken thumb - and Johansen had a career-high 50 assists. The trio combined for just four points against Dallas as Arvidsson was held scoreless, though, and th contrast with the Stars' dominating top line was stark.
The Predators' top line remains under contract together at least through the 2021-22 season, with Arvidsson signed for the next five seasons and Johansen through June 2025.
Elsewhere on the roster, Poile said he has enough flexibility under the salary cap but didn't know if he'll need more this offseason. He will be in touch with the agent for captain Roman Josi on July 1 to start talking about an extension with one season left on Josi's current deal.
Nashville has a lot of money tied up already in its defensemen, starting with Subban, who's due $9 million each of the next three seasons. Ryan Ellis is under contract through 2026-27 at $6.25 million. Dante Fabbro, a rookie who signed at the end of the NHL's regular season once his college season ended, made a strong impression on his entry deal and is expected to get more playing time next season.
Kyle Turris was signed to a six-year deal when Nashville traded for the center in November 2017. He had what he called a frustrating 2018-19 with just 23 points in 55 games, with the low production making his $6 million salary very costly for the Predators.
With each offseason, rumors start swirling that Subban will be traded. He ranked ninth with 31 points this season but played only 63 games because of an injury. Subban said he understands the responsibility that comes with being the team's highest-paid player and he knows the business side of the NHL, having been traded once in his career.
"All I can hope," Subban said, "is to continue to try to help this team win a championship."