As the Nashville Predators 2024-25 season officially ended, everyone's immediate question became whether or not Andrew Brunette would remain as the team's head coach. The conversation would have seemed crazy a year ago, when he was a Jack Adams finalist, but things quickly change when your team disappoints like his did this year.
Brunette's job has rightfully been under scrutiny these days, but nobody knew for the longest time where Barry Trotz's mind was with this topic. With news that both will hold press conferences in the next few days, it all but confirms that Brunette will be back next year.
Now, anyone who has not directly advocated for Brunette's firing can admit that this is no situation where he was an absolute must-keep. The Predators season was a total disaster, and there are enough concerns -- especially the development of the youth -- that you can easily justify wanting him gone.
That being said, the problems on this year's Predators were much deeper than coaching, and the vast majority of them would have persisted even with a different bench boss. Even if they made the change, they would need many more sweeping changes to get out of the state they are in, and they can look to one of their opponents for recent perspective on that.
Nashville Predators had way too many issues for one coach to fix
One of the most common thoughts when a team is unexpectedly struggling is that sometimes, they just need a new voice and leader in the locker room. It is a valid thought, and it can work, but teams in those situations have to be careful and can go wrong when they have unrealistic expectations about their coaches elevating poor personnel.
In the case of the Predators, everyone remembers the spending spree they went on last July 1, and many had high expectations, but when you look deeper, it is obvious why they failed. First and foremost, the lack of blue chip talent and depth at the center position hampered them beyond the point of salvaging.
For all the moves Trotz made last summer, the season hinged on whether or not Tommy Novak would truly ascend to that top-six center role, and he did not even come close. There was a point in the season where Steven Stamkos shifted to center, and it worked for awhile, but when that happened it left a gaping hole on the wing.
Even at full strength, the Predators always had voids to fill in the top-six from a positional needs standpoint, and that would not have addressed the other deal-breaking issue with the personnel -- they were way too old and slow.
All of the free agents Trotz brought last offseason were age 30 and above, and it showed repeatedly, especially in Andrew Brunette's system that emphasizes speed and the 200-foot game. I suppose it is fair to criticize him for not adjusting his coaching style a little bit, but the fact of the matter is no slow team can win anything meaningful in the NHL, or any sport.
It also does not help when your team is other worldly bad when it comes to finishing chances, and that is exactly what happened to the Predators. And that is not a coaching issue, or even a GM issue, that says the players were getting good chances and not executing, which ultimately is on them.
It also does not help that between injuries and trades, the Predators roster really was that bad towards the end of the year, especially on defense. Although they were well in trouble with little hope of getting out before any of that happened, so they would have been screwed regardless.
So when you piece it all together, while the Predators had individually talented players on this roster, the fits and cohesion were a total mess, and there is only so much a coach can do to fix such a situation.
Not to mention, last year's team had a lot of good fortune and several guys with career years, especially Gustav Nyquist, and they predictably regressed. Once again, that is not the fault of Brunette or any of the coaches, that is just how sports work oftentimes, and we saw it with the Predators.
Even still, he did not do a perfect job, and especially if your argument for letting him go is that the lack of development among the youth, I really do not blame you. That is an area he has substantial control over, and also one that if it does not improve, this Predators franchise is going absolutely nowhere.
But looking at the team big picture, what stuck out to me was not a true Andrew Brunette problem and his players not playing for him. It was a huge management issue and a group that could not mesh together, and even if you think Brunette is a problem, he is, at best, a symptom of the situation.
It seems as if Barry Trotz realizes that, as all signs point to him keeping Brunette at least for the start of next year. Who knows if Trotz will actually end up fixing the situation, but at the very least, one mistake he has not made is one that one of his fellow GM's made early in the season.
Nashville Predators have avoided mistake Boston Bruins made with Jim Montgomery
The Bruins were similar to the Predators in that they were underachieving out of the gate to begin 2024-25, and something had to change for them to improve. Unlike Trotz, Don Sweeney decided to pull the trigger and fire then head coach Jim Montgomery, in hopes that a new voice in the locker room would spark them.
The Bruins actually looked good in the few games right after the coaching change, but ultimately, it did not help them at all. Like the Predators, they had and still have problems that were much deeper than coaching.
Their talent and overall depth at center was bad, their roster was aging, and Jeremy Swayman was having a bad season and did not recover. Not to mention, they also made offseason moves, but contrary to the Predators, the ones they made looked like major overpays even at the time.
The Bruins roster was not getting better and clearly had major flaws, yet somehow their management decided that the bench boss was the change they needed to make. Adding insult to injury is that Montgomery has absolutely thrived in St. Louis since getting fired, as he sent the Blues on a huge winning streak that revived their playoff hopes.
And that is important with the Predators and Brunette because, as much as Predators fans may not want to hear this, he has a really good track record in the NHL. Granted, it is under a small sample size, but Brunette was a Jack Adams' candidate in his previous and only two years as a head coach.
And with what he got out of the Predators in his first year with them, it is easy to see why he was nominated for the award. No, of course he is not perfect, but there is a chance that they would be firing a really good head coach if they parted with Brunette, and Trotz must consider that as well.
What do we want to see from Andrew Brunette and Nashville Predators next season
Even if it looks like Brunette will keep his job after this disaster of a season, there his no doubt his seat will be extremely hot. With what he has accomplished as a head coach, and all that went against him in 2024-25, he can realistically withstand one bad year, but two of them probably not so much.
Expectations will be more clearly defined once we know what the roster looks like for 2025-26, and even if we will not see major changes, we hopefully will see at least some. The roster is way too old, the defense is way too logjammed, the team has way too many draft picks, and with the cap continuing to go up, will have too much cap space to do absolutely nothing.
We would like to see a few moves for younger players and replace them with aging veterans or guys who have become redundant for one reason or another. Even then, none of that is in Brunette's control, so even if Trotz does not make moves like many of us hope, when it comes to Brunette, we would like to see some more progression from the young guys.
That includes at least Luke Evangelista, Fedor Svechkov, Zachary L'Heureux, Adam Wilsby, and Justin Barron. And since the Predators will be picking top 5 in the draft, it is likely that we will see that player at some point or a few during the year, so we would like to see good things there as well.
If we do not see substantially good things from this group, and the team is still well out of a playoff spot, it will be much harder to defend Brunette and his job. Even if he does not have the best roster to work with, at that point he just would not be controlling the controllables like he should be.
And if it gets that far, there is no reason Trotz should keep his job either, as once again, all of this starts with his mismanagement of the team. To be totally fair, you would be hard pressed to find anybody who is against a full cleaning of house, including myself.