*Photo from Florida Hockey Now*
The coaching carousel is back in business this offseason. The Nashville Predators have fired John Hynes as head coach and hired Andrew Brunette to replace him, according to a Tuesday announcement by the Predators.
Brunette spent last season as an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils. He stepped in as interim head coach for the Florida Panthers in the 2021-2022 season, leading them to a President's Trophy, which made him a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.
As a player, Brunette suited up for the Predators, scoring the first goal in team history in 1998-1999. After retiring, he has served as an assistant coach with the Devils, Panthers, and Minnesota Wild before being interim head coach with the Panthers. This will be his first ever permanent head coach position.
Brunette said that "I am super excited to be back in Nashville and a part of the Predators organization. I feel like this is coming full circle for my career, from pulling on the jersey for the first time 25 years ago to returning now to take care of some unfinished business. It has been awesome to see how this city and its fan base have grown since I played here and I look forward to continuing the legacy and the culture behind the bench that Barry cultivated that inaugural season."
The firing of Hynes comes in the wake of the Predators failing to make the playoffs, the first time since 2013-2014. Hynes led the Predators to the playoffs in his first 3 seasons behind the bench but lost in the first round each time. The Predators also fired assistant coach Dan Lambert.
Predators incoming GM Barry Trotz said of Hynes that "He did an outstanding job after the trade deadline with our team, especially with our young players, and he is a well-prepared, hard-working coach who will continue to grow in the NHL. After our year-end meetings and some additional evaluation, it was time to change the voice and time to go in a different direction. On behalf of all of us at the Predators, we'd like to thank John for all his work here and wish him and his family all the best moving forward."
The hiring of Brunette makes him the first head coach to be hired this offseason. He will be the first head coach in Trotz's tenure as GM as he takes over for David Poile on July 1.
Comments
Post a Comment