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Report: John Hynes Out as Nashville Predators Head Coach, Andrew Brunette Hired

By Chad Minton |
SUNRISE, FL - MAY 19: Florida Panthers Interim head coach Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers dire3cts the players during a break in action against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in Game Two of the Second Round of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on May 19, 2022 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - MAY 19: Florida Panthers Interim head coach Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers dire3cts the players during a break in action against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period in Game Two of the Second Round of the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the FLA Live Arena on May 19, 2022 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

We saw the writing on the wall as the offseason moved along for the Nashville Predators, and still no confirmation that John Hynes would return as head coach in 2023-24.

Per a report from Kevin Weekes, the Nashville Predators are moving on from Hynes after four seasons behind the bench, and replacing him with Andrew Brunette.

https://twitter.com/KevinWeekes/status/1663575619001516034?s=20

First off, you can always count on Weekes to bring you the bombshell breaking news on Twitter with his hilarious camera angles and random backgrounds.

Secondly, the Nashville Predators couldn’t wait any longer to make this official. Head coaches get snatched up fast, and Brunette wasn’t going to hang around much longer.

Hynes Shown the Door, Brunette Comes in as 4th HC in Preds History

Brunette is a former NHL player with over 1,100 games and 733 points. He was the interim head coach for the Florida Panthers in 2021-22 and led the team to a 51-18-6 regular season record, but wasn’t retained after stumbling in the second round of the playoffs with a sweep to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Most recently, and what really put him back at the top of the list of head coaching candidates, Brunette was an associate head coach this past season with the New Jersey Devils. Another surprise team of the NHL that elevated Brunette’s name among coaching circles.

Brunette figures to bring a much different style to the young and growing Nashville Predators. The Predators saw six rookies make their NHL debut last season, and Trotz has already mentioned that he wants this team to get faster and player with more offensive energy, the anti-Hynes system of playing hard-nosed, rugged hitting games and leaning on near-perfect goaltending from Juuse Saros.

Hynes leaves the Predators with a record of 134-95-18 for a point percentage of .579. A significant improvement from his five years of coaching the New Jersey Devils (.487 point percentage), but his dismal and outright failure to have any success in the postseason made it hard to expect Trotz to show any kind of commitment to retaining Hynes any longer.

Many fans speculated than an internal promotion to Head Coach Karl Taylor of the Milwaukee Admirals was in the realm of possibility, but Trotz, and maybe with some consultation from outgoing General Manager David Poile, that a coach with more NHL experience was needed.

This makes for an interesting and exciting offseason ahead for the Nashville Predators as they bring in a new head coach, new General Manager and will be hosting the NHL Draft at the end of June. All while touting a younger roster full of developing talent that played hearty NHL minutes down the stretch to pull the Predators to within three points of a playoff berth.

As for Hynes, he’ll land somewhere as at least an assistant head coach. The way the NHL gives second, third and even fourth chances to head coaches, perhaps he arises somewhere else eventually as a head coach.

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