2013–14 Nashville Predators season

2013–14 Nashville Predators
Division	6th Central
Conference	10th Western
2013–14 record	38–32–12
Home record	19–17–5
Road record	19–15–7
Goals for	216
Goals against	242
Team information
General manager	David Poile
Coach	Barry Trotz
Captain	Shea Weber
Alternate captains	Mike Fisher Patric Hornqvist
Arena	Bridgestone Arena
Average attendance	16,600 (97%) (41 games)
Minor league affiliate(s)	Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Patric Hornqvist (22)
Assists	Shea Weber (32)
Points	Patric Hornqvist Shea Weber (53)
Penalty minutes	Richard Clune (152)
Plus/minus	Craig Smith (+12)
Wins	Carter Hutton (19)
Goals against average	Carter Hutton (2.61)

The 2013–14 Nashville Predators season was the club's 16th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Predators finished tenth in the Western Conference, failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second year in a row.

Regular season

After the season ended, it was announced that head coach Barry Trotz's contract would not be extended and a search for a new head coach would begin immediately. Trotz had been offered a different role in the organization, which he declined. Trotz had been the only coach in franchise history.

Standings

Central Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Colorado Avalanche	82	52	22	8	47	250	220	+30	112
2	x – St. Louis Blues	82	52	23	7	43	248	191	+57	111
3	x – Chicago Blackhawks	82	46	21	15	40	267	220	+47	107
4	Minnesota Wild	82	43	27	12	35	207	206	+1	98
5	Dallas Stars	82	40	31	11	36	235	228	+7	91
6	Nashville Predators	82	38	32	12	36	216	242	−26	88
7	Winnipeg Jets	82	37	35	10	29	227	237	−10	84

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Western Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	CE	x – Minnesota Wild	82	43	27	12	35	207	206	+1	98
2	CE	x – Dallas Stars	82	40	31	11	36	235	228	+7	91
3	PA	Phoenix Coyotes	82	37	30	15	31	216	231	−15	89
4	CE	Nashville Predators	82	38	32	12	36	216	242	−26	88
5	CE	Winnipeg Jets	82	37	35	10	29	227	237	−10	84
6	PA	Vancouver Canucks	82	36	35	11	31	196	223	−27	83
7	PA	Calgary Flames	82	35	40	7	28	209	241	−32	77
8	PA	Edmonton Oilers	82	29	44	9	25	203	270	−67	67

Source: National Hockey League
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2013 Pre-Season Game Log: 2–4–1 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 0–4–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 16	Nashville	3–6	Florida		Darling	0	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 16	Nashville	2–3	Florida	OT	Hutton	6,541	0–1–1	Recap
3	September 19	Nashville	1–5	Tampa Bay		Hutton	10,332	0–2–1	Recap
4	September 22	NY Islanders	0–2	Nashville		Rinne	15,502	1–2–1	Recap
5	September 24	Tampa Bay	1–2	Nashville		Mazanec	13,089	2–2–1	Recap
6	September 25	Nashville	1–4	Washington		Hutton	16,748	2–3–1	Recap
7	September 27	Nashville	4–6	NY Islanders		Rinne	9,338	2–4–1	Recap

Regular season

2013–14 Game Log
October: 6–5–2 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 3 Nashville 2–4 St. Louis Rinne 18,851 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 4 Nashville 1–3 Colorado Rinne 14,494 0–2–0 0 Recap 3 October 8 Minnesota 2–3 Nashville Rinne 17,196 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 October 10 Toronto 4–0 Nashville Rinne 16,671 1–3–0 2 Recap 5 October 12 NY Islanders 2–3 Nashville Rinne 17,113 2–3–0 4 Recap 6 October 15 Florida 3–4 Nashville Rinne 15,935 3–3–0 6 Recap 7 October 17 Los Angeles 2–1 Nashville SO Rinne 16,416 3–3–1 7 Recap 8 October 19 Nashville 2–1 Montreal Rinne 21,273 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 October 20 Nashville 3–1 Winnipeg Hutton 15,004 5–3–1 11 Recap 10 October 22 Nashville 0–2 Minnesota Rinne 17,651 5–4–1 11 Recap 11 October 24 Winnipeg 2–3 Nashville OT Hutton 16,075 6–4–1 13 Recap 12 October 26 St. Louis 6–1 Nashville Hutton 16,681 6–5–1 13 Recap 13 October 31 Nashville 4–5 Phoenix SO Hutton 7,401 6–5–2 14 Recap
November: 7–6–1 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 5–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 14 November 2 Nashville 4–3 Los Angeles Hutton 18,118 7–5–2 16 Recap 15 November 6 Nashville 6–4 Colorado Hutton 14,043 8–5–2 18 Recap 16 November 8 Nashville 0–5 Winnipeg Hutton 15,004 8–6–2 18 Recap 17 November 10 Nashville 0–5 New Jersey Hutton 12,964 8–7–2 18 Recap 18 November 12 Nashville 1–3 NY Islanders Mazanec 12,108 8–8–2 18 Recap 19 November 15 Nashville 1–4 Pittsburgh Mazanec 18,606 8–9–2 18 Recap 20 November 16 Chicago 2–7 Nashville Mazanec 17,113 9–9–2 20 Recap 21 November 19 Nashville 2–0 Detroit Mazanec 20,066 10–9–2 22 Recap 22 November 21 Nashville 4–2 Toronto Mazanec 19,256 11–9–2 24 Recap 23 November 23 NY Rangers 2–0 Nashville Mazanec 17,127 11–10–2 24 Recap 24 November 25 Phoenix 2–4 Nashville Mazanec 15,728 12–10–2 26 Recap 25 November 27 Nashville 4–0 Columbus Mazanec 11,893 13–10–2 28 Recap 26 November 28 Edmonton 3–0 Nashville Mazanec 16,279 13–11–2 28 Recap 27 November 30 Philadelphia 3–2 Nashville SO Mazanec 17,136 13–11–3 29 Recap
December: 5–7–1 (Home: 4–4–1; Road: 1–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 3 Vancouver 3–1 Nashville Mazanec 15,330 13–12–3 29 Recap 29 December 5 Carolina 5–2 Nashville Mazanec 15,768 13–13–3 29 Recap 30 December 7 Nashville 2–5 Washington Mazanec 18,506 13–14–3 29 Recap 31 December 10 Nashville 4–1 NY Rangers Hutton 18,006 14–14–3 31 Recap 32 December 12 Dallas 1–3 Nashville Hutton 16,347 15–14–3 33 Recap 33 December 14 San Jose 2–3 Nashville Hutton 16,243 16–14–3 35 Recap 34 December 17 Chicago 3–1 Nashville Hutton 16,219 16–15–3 35 Recap 35 December 19 Nashville 2–4 Tampa Bay Hutton 17,254 16–16–3 35 Recap 36 December 21 Montreal 4–3 Nashville OT Hutton 16,095 16–16–4 36 Recap 37 December 23 Boston 6–2 Nashville Mazanec 17,207 16–17–4 36 Recap 38 December 27 Nashville 1–4 Dallas Hutton 17,197 16–18–4 36 Recap 39 December 28 Los Angeles 2–3 Nashville Mazanec 17,113 17–18–4 38 Recap 40 December 30 Detroit 4–6 Nashville Mazanec 17,212 18–18–4 40 Recap
January: 7–5–4 (Home: 4–3–1; Road: 3–2–3) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 41 January 2 Nashville 2–3 Boston OT Mazanec 17,565 18–18–5 41 Recap 42 January 4 Nashville 4–5 Florida SO Mazanec 15,796 18–18–6 42 Recap 43 January 5 Nashville 1–2 Carolina Hutton 13,994 18–19–6 42 Recap 44 January 7 San Jose 2–3 Nashville Mazanec 15,016 19–19–6 44 Recap 45 January 9 Anaheim 4–3 Nashville Mazanec 15,892 19–20–6 44 Recap 46 January 11 Ottawa 2–1 Nashville SO Mazanec 17,113 19–20–7 45 Recap 47 January 12 Minnesota 4–0 Nashville Mazanec 16,221 19–21–7 45 Recap 48 January 14 Calgary 2–4 Nashville Hutton 15,730 20–21–7 47 Recap 49 January 16 Nashville 4–3 Philadelphia SO Hutton 19,917 21–21–7 49 Recap 50 January 18 Colorado 5–4 Nashville Dubnyk 17,113 21–22–7 49 Recap 51 January 20 Dallas 1–4 Nashville Hutton 16,190 22–22–7 51 Recap 52 January 23 Nashville 2–1 Vancouver Hutton 18,910 23–22–7 53 Recap 53 January 24 Nashville 4–5 Calgary SO Dubnyk 19,289 23–22–8 54 Recap 54 January 26 Nashville 1–5 Edmonton Hutton 16,839 23–23–8 54 Recap 55 January 28 Nashville 4–3 Winnipeg Hutton 15,004 24–23–8 56 Recap 56 January 31 New Jersey 2–3 Nashville OT Hutton 17,207 25–23–8 58 Recap
February: 1–1–2 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–0–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 57 February 1 Nashville 3–4 St. Louis SO Hutton 19,358 25–23–9 59 Recap 58 February 6 Nashville 2–3 Minnesota OT Hutton 18,766 25–23–10 60 Recap 59 February 8 Anaheim 5–2 Nashville Hutton 17,139 25–24–10 60 Recap 60 February 27 Tampa Bay 2–3 Nashville Hutton 17,113 26–24–10 62 Recap
March: 7–8–1 (Home: 2–5–1; Road: 5–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 61 March 1 Winnipeg 3–1 Nashville Hutton 17,113 26–25–10 62 Recap 62 March 4 Pittsburgh 3–1 Nashville Rinne 17,113 26–26–10 62 Recap 63 March 6 St. Louis 2–1 Nashville Rinne 16,180 26–27–10 62 Recap 64 March 8 Columbus 1–0 Nashville Rinne 17,113 26–28–10 62 Recap 65 March 10 Nashville 4–3 Ottawa OT Rinne 19,063 27–28–10 64 Recap 66 March 11 Nashville 4–1 Buffalo Hutton 18,659 28–28–10 66 Recap 67 March 14 Nashville 3–2 Chicago Rinne 22,106 29–28–10 68 Recap 68 March 15 St. Louis 4–1 Nashville Rinne 17,113 29–29–10 68 Recap 69 March 18 Nashville 1–5 Edmonton Rinne 16,839 29–30–10 68 Recap 70 March 19 Nashville 0–2 Vancouver Hutton 18,910 29–31–10 68 Recap 71 March 21 Nashville 6–5 Calgary Hutton 19,289 30–31–10 70 Recap 72 March 23 Nashville 2–0 Chicago Rinne 21,727 31–31–10 72 Recap 73 March 25 Colorado 5–4 Nashville SO Rinne 16,438 31–31–11 73 Recap 74 March 27 Buffalo 1–6 Nashville Hutton 16,729 32–31–11 75 Recap 75 March 28 Nashville 3–7 Dallas Rinne 18,532 32–32–11 75 Recap 76 March 30 Washington 3–4 Nashville SO Hutton 16,553 33–32–11 77 Recap
April: 5–0–1 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 77 April 4 Nashville 5-2 Anaheim Rinne 17,174 34–32–11 79 Recap 78 April 5 Nashville 3-0 San Jose Hutton 17,562 35–32–11 81 Recap 79 April 8 Nashville 2-3 Dallas OT Rinne 16,219 35–32–12 82 Recap 80 April 10 Phoenix 0-2 Nashville Rinne 17,174 36–32–12 84 Recap 81 April 12 Chicago 5-7 Nashville Rinne 17,355 37–32–12 86 Recap 82 April 13 Nashville 7-3 Minnesota Hutton 18,658 38–32–12 88 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

The 2013-14 season was another disappointing one for the Nashville Predators as they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Player stats

Final stats

Skaters

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Shea Weber	79	23	33	56	−2	52
Patric Hornqvist	76	22	31	53	1	28
Craig Smith	79	24	28	52	16	22
Mike Fisher	75	20	29	49	−4	60
Roman Josi	72	13	27	40	−2	18
David Legwand‡	62	10	30	40	−8	30
Matt Cullen	77	10	29	39	4	32
Colin Wilson	81	11	22	33	−1	21
Nick Spaling	71	13	19	32	2	14
Ryan Ellis	80	6	21	27	9	24
Gabriel Bourque	74	9	17	26	−5	8
Seth Jones	77	6	19	25	−23	24
Eric Nystrom	79	15	6	21	−25	60
Paul Gaustad	75	10	11	21	−6	61
Viktor Stalberg	70	8	10	18	−14	32
Calle Jarnkrok	12	2	7	9	7	4
Mattias Ekholm	62	1	8	9	−8	10
Richard Clune	58	3	4	7	−7	166
Victor Bartley	50	1	5	6	0	23
Michael Del Zotto†	25	1	4	5	−4	8
Filip Forsberg	13	1	4	5	−8	4
Matt Hendricks‡	44	2	2	4	−5	54
Colton Sissons	17	1	3	4	0	4
Kevin Klein‡	47	1	2	3	−11	21
Simon Moser	6	1	1	2	0	2
Patrick Eaves†	5	0	0	0	−3	0
Joe Piskula	2	0	0	0	1	0
Mark Van Guilder	1	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor Beck	7	0	0	0	−2	6

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Carter Hutton	40	34	2,085:17	20	11	4	91	2.62	1006	.910	1	0	1	2
Marek Mazanec	25	22	1,369:32	8	10	4	64	2.80	650	.902	2	0	0	0
Pekka Rinne	24	24	1,366:49	10	10	3	63	2.77	645	.902	2	0	0	0
Devan Dubnyk†‡	2	2	123:57	0	1	1	9	4.35	60	.850	0	0	0	0
Magnus Hellberg	1	0	12:12	0	0	0	1	5.00	4	.750	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Predators. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Predators only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record

Transactions

The Predators have been involved in the following transactions during the 2013–14 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 30, 2013	To St. Louis Blues 4th-round pick in 2013	To Nashville Predators 7th-round pick in 2013 4th-round pick in 2014
January 15, 2014	To Edmonton Oilers Matt Hendricks	To Nashville Predators Devan Dubnyk
January 22, 2014	To New York Rangers Kevin Klein	To Nashville Predators Michael Del Zotto
March 5, 2014	To Montreal Canadiens Devan Dubnyk	To Nashville Predators Future Considerations
March 5, 2014	To Detroit Red Wings David Legwand	To Nashville Predators Calle Jarnkrok Patrick Eaves Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2014
April 19, 2014	To Washington Capitals 7th-round pick in 2014	To Nashville Predators Jaynen Rissling

Free agents signed

Player	Former team	Contract terms
Viktor Stalberg	Chicago Blackhawks	4 years, $12 million
Matt Cullen	Minnesota Wild	2 years, $7 million
Eric Nystrom	Dallas Stars	4 years, $10 million
Matt Hendricks	Washington Capitals	4 years, $7.4 million
Carter Hutton	Rockford IceHogs	1 year, $550,000
Bryan Rodney	Manchester Monarchs	1 year, $550,000
Simon Moser	SC Bern	1 year, $550,000 entry-level contract
Johan Alm	Skelleftea AIK	2 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract

Free agents lost

Player	New team	Contract terms
T. J. Brennan	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 year, $600,000
Jeremy Smith	Columbus Blue Jackets	1 year, $550,000
Chris Mueller	Dallas Stars	1 year, $600,000
Matthew Halischuk	Winnipeg Jets	1 year, $650,000
Jonathon Blum	Minnesota Wild	1 year, $650,000
Brandon Yip	Phoenix Coyotes	1 year, $675,000
Hal Gill	Philadelphia Flyers	1 year, $700,000

Claimed via waivers

Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date claimed off waivers

Player signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
Seth Jones	July 10, 2013	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Richard Clune	July 17, 2013	2 years, $1.7 million
Nick Spaling	July 25, 2013	1 year, $1.5 million
Jonathan-Ismael Diaby	January 2, 2014	3 years, $1.9375 million entry-level contract
Felix Girard	April 15, 2014	3 years, $1.895 million entry-level contract
Garrett Noonan	April 22, 2014	2 years, $1.8 million entry-level contract
Jaynen Rissling	April 22, 2014	3 years, $1.82 million entry-level contract
Pontus Aberg	May 7, 2014	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Max Gortz	June 2, 2014	3 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract
Carter Hutton	June 2, 2014	2 years, $1.45 million contract extension

Draft picks

See also: List of Nashville Predators draft picks

Nashville Predators' picks at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, which was held in Newark, New Jersey on June 30, 2013.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	4	Seth Jones	D	United States	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
3	64[a]	Jonathan-Ismael Diaby	D	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
4	95	Felix Girard	C	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
4	99[b]	Juuse Saros	G	Finland	HPK (SM-liiga)
5	125	Saku Maenalanen	RW	Finland	Karpat Jr. (Finland-Jr.)
5	140[d]	Teemu Kivihalme	D	United States	Burnsville Blaze (MSHSL)
6	155	Emil Pettersson	C	Sweden	Timra IK (SHL/Swe-2)
6	171[e]	Tommy Veilleux	LW	Canada	Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL)
7	185	Wade Murphy	RW	Canada	Penticton Vees (BCHL)
7	203[f]	Janne Juvonen	G	Finland	Lahti Pelicans (SM-liiga)

Draft notes

• The Nashville Predators' second-round pick went to the Montreal Canadiens as the result of a February 27, 2012 trade that sent Andrei Kostitsyn to the Predators in exchange for a 2013 conditional fifth-round pick and this pick.
• ^a The Tampa Bay Lightning's third-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as a result of a June 15, 2012 trade that sent Anders Lindback, Kyle Wilson and a 2012 seventh-round pick (#202–Nikita Gusev) to the Lightning in exchange for Sebastien Caron, two 2012 second-round picks (#37–Pontus Aberg, #50–Colton Sissons) and this pick.
• The Nashville Predators' third-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a June 23, 2012 trade that sent a 2012 third-round pick (#89–Brendan Leipsic) to the Predators in exchange for this pick.
• ^b The Buffalo Sabres' fourth-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as a result of a February 27, 2012 trade that sent a 2012 first-round pick (#21–Mark Jankowski) to the Sabres in exchange for Paul Gaustad and this pick.
• The Toronto Maple Leafs' fourth-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013 that sent a seventh-round pick in 2013 (203rd overall) and a fourth-round pick in 2014 to Nashville in exchange for this pick.
       Nashville previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on July 3, 2011 that sent Cody Franson and Matthew Lombardi to Toronto in exchange for Brett Lebda, Robert Slaney and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Lombardi plays in 60 or more regular season games over the course of the 2011–12 and 2012–13 NHL seasons – was converted on April 3, 2012.
• ^d The New York Rangers' fifth-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as a result of a June 23, 2012 trade that sent a 2012 fifth-round pick (#142–Thomas Spelling) to the Rangers in exchange for this pick.
• ^e The San Jose Sharks' sixth-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as a result of an April 3, 2013 trade that sent Scott Hannan to the Sharks in exchange for this pick.
• ^f The St. Louis Blues' seventh-round pick went to the Nashville Predators as the result of a trade on June 30, 2013 that sent Toronto's fourth-round pick in 2013 (112th overall) to St. Louis in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2014 and this pick.