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Brunette hired in Nashville: former Islanders head coach Barry Trotz makes first major decision as Preds GM

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1 year ago

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Barry Trotz, New York Islanders

Former New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz has made his first major decision in his new role as the general manager of the Nashville Predators.

First reported by Kevin Weekes, Nashville is firing John Hynes and naming Andrew Brunette as the team’s new head coach.

After spending 23 years as a head coach in the NHL, four of which came with the New York Islanders, Trotz was named as the successor to longtime Predators general manager and president of hockey operations David Poile back in February. Trotz will officially assume full responsibility of the position on July 1.

Following this past season, in which Nashville (42-31-8) missed the postseason for the first time in eight years, Trotz said no change was out of the question this offseason when it came to improving the team.

“Everybody is going to be evaluated, and I’m also going to evaluate other organizations too,” Trotz told 102.5 The Game on May 10. “If I can improve on any aspect of our organization — be it coaching or development — I’m going to try and do that.”

Read more about Nashville’s coaching change at Nashville Hockey Now

Hynes had been with the Predators since January 2020 and had one year remaining on his contract. In three and a half seasons as the with Hynes as its head coach, Nashville had a combined record of 134-95-18.

Brunette joined the New Jersey Devils as an assistant coach this past season and will now get his first full-time head coaching position in the NHL. In 2021-22, Brunette was appointed as the interim head coach of the Florida Panthers following the resignation of Joel Quenneville and went on to lead the team to win the President’s Trophy.

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