The Nashville Predators plan to proceed with coach Andrew Brunette behind the bench, general manager Barry Trotz announced on Monday.
Trotz’s words came on the heels of the Predators following up a busy offseason of signings with a dismal performance in 2024-25 that saw them miss the Western Conference playoffs.
“Andrew Brunette, to me, is a good young coach. That’s why I hired him,” Trotz said Monday. “He’s a good young coach. Had a tough situation this year in terms of our team, maybe our make-up, how we came together or didn’t come together.
“Good, young people — when you believe in them, just like a good young player — you stick with them.”
The Predators limped to a 30-44-8 record, finishing with just 68 points, despite signing free agents Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei. This all came one season after Nashville posted a 47-30-5 mark (99 points) in 2023-24 and made the playoffs.
Brunette, 51, owns a 128-92-19 coaching record with the Florida Panthers (2021-22) and Predators. He was an assistant with the New Jersey Devils in between those two stops, and he was a finalist for the 2024 Jack Adams Award.
As a player, Brunette recorded 268 goals and 733 points in 1,110 career games with the Washington Capitals, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and Predators.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
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