Adam Vingan

USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee

The frenzy generated by the NHL trade deadline creates an army of insatiable and trigger-happy armchair general managers. Actual general managers, however, have to be a bit more tactful.

With the Feb. 29 deadline fast approaching, Predators general manager David Poile, who has shown to be aggressive at this time of the season, knows his team has underachieved, but is wary of making significant changes to a group that he feels is built to compete as currently constituted.

"I think before I go outside the organization, I just think we need to get the consistency that we unfortunately have not had all year long," Poile said. "I truly believe it's there because we have seen it on occasion, but not regularly enough. We saw it a lot on a consistent basis last year. I truly believe that the best is yet to come for our hockey club."

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If Poile were to make a move, Nashville's biggest need is offense, particularly up front. Predators forwards have combined for 111 goals in 58 games, placing them in a three-way tie for second-fewest in the NHL with the Ducks and Hurricanes as of Friday, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The Predators' primary scoring options aren't the problem. Their top two goal-scorers, forwards James Neal and Filip Forsberg, are on pace to outdo their respective totals from last season. Neal leads Nashville with 21 goals, one of seven active NHL players to reach the 20-goal mark in each of his first eight seasons, and Forsberg has six goals in as many games. There's also center Ryan Johansen, who has a team-high 16 points in 18 games since being acquired in a blockbuster Jan. 6 trade with Columbus.

It's the depth scoring that could use a kickstart. Forwards Craig Smith, Colin Wilson, Mike Fisher and Mike Ribeiro have combined for 31 goals this season after totaling 77 last season. Poile told Canada's National Post newspaper this week that such a lack of secondary contributions "doesn’t bode well for winning.”

"If I knew the answer to that question, obviously we would have taken steps to resolve it," Poile said Wednesday. "It's really frustrating because, again, it's not like we're asking people to do what they haven't done before. We're just asking them to do what they have done before. If you're a coach or if you're a general manager, what you ask from your players on a daily basis is just to give their best game and to be as consistent as possible."

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The Predators' grip on a wild card spot isn't ironclad, but they see an advantage there in that it will require them to be at their best to qualify for the playoffs, which can then carry over if they get there.

"I think we're in a great spot," Johansen said. "If we can just gain some momentum here and solidify a spot, then like we all know, you never know what can happen in the playoffs. I love the group we have here. I'm just excited for these last 25 games to see where we can get our level of play at."

Poile shares that confidence, leaving him perfectly content with the Predators' roster as is if the right trade proposal doesn't come along.

"If we don't make any trades this year, I'm comfortable," Poile said. "We've made a big trade. We've made a big trade that should have made our team better. And to this point, it hasn't, but I believe all the ingredients are there within our team to carry us into the playoffs and have success in the playoffs.

"But I'll do my job. I am doing my job in terms of making calls, and if something is there that can improve our team, I will do that, but I'm comfortable with the makeup of our team. I'm just not totally happy with the production that we're getting on an individual basis and we just need to play a little bit better."

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Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.

NHL TRADE DEADLINE

When: 2 p.m. Feb. 29

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