The Nashville Predators are in the midst of organization turmoil as changes occur rapidly behind the scenes.
Preds General Manager Barry Trotz announced that he would be stepping down from the position, sending the franchise searching for his successor. Big names like Brendan Shanahan and Chris Pronger have been in talks with the team but a new name may join them.
Insiders revealed that St. Louis Blues Vice President of Hockey Operations Peter Chiarelli will leave the organization to pursue other opportunities across the league. Chiarelli has been with the club since the beginning of the 2021-22 season. He is also the former General Manager of the Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers.
If hired by Nashville as GM, he'll bring nearly two decades of management experience and a Stanley Cup win to the team. His prior playoff success is often overshadowed by the franchise-changing mistakes he made along his career, but for good reason.
The Predators should be cautious with hiring Chiarelli, especially with the history he's had behind his teams.
Chiarelli helped turn Boston into Stanley Cup contenders, but dug them in a hole at the same time
His general manager career kicked off with the Ottawa Senators, holding the organization's assistant GM position up until mid-2006 when he was hired by Boston for its GM duties. With the Bruins, he oversaw the birth of the franchise's new face, witnessing the Tuuka Rask trade, the Zdeno Chara signing, and the drafting of Phil Kessel, Brad Marchand, and Milan Lucic.
Once he began his duties, he made big trades to acquire Johnny Boychuk, Andrew Ference, and Dennis Wideman. He later sent Wideman to the Florida Panthers for Nathan Horton, who played a large role in the team's 2011 cup win.
He also dealt Kessel to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for two first round picks, and with them selecting Tyler Seguin in 2010 and Dougie Hamilton in 2011. With the acquisitions made, the Bruins won their first cup since 1972 in 2011. Horton and Seguin proved to be valuable pieces in the team's cup run, handing praise to Chiarelli. His team reached the finals in 2013 but lost to Chicago. They took home the President's Trophy during the 2013-14 season. However, Chiarelli made a selection of faults as he neared the end of his tenure in Boston.
His most notable move was trading Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars in 2013 for little return. The four players brought back in the deal, Loui Eriksson, Reilly Smith, Joe Morrow, and Matt Fraser, didn't stick with the team for more than three seasons. Seguin, who was beginning to lock like a franchise piece for Boston, was swapped for four players who didn't show any long-term success with the club. He would go on to record 84 points in 80 games in his first year with Dallas.
With limited cap space, Chiarelli followed it up with trading Boychuk, one of the team's top defensemen, to the New York Islanders for a couple of second-rounders and a conditional third. Boston's defense struggled without him, especially when Chara underwent an injury, missing seven weeks that same season.
He was fired in 2015 after missing the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. His tenure started off strong, but his push for better postseason performance resulted in major cap issues. In Nashville's perspective, the team already has a handful of veterans under lengthy expensive deals, so adding more will do more harm than good. We also got youth up and coming, and Chiarelli's shown that he isn't afraid to move them to attempt competitiveness.
Edmonton's recent playoff failures likely tied to Chiarelli's questionable decision-making
Chiarelli landed the same position nine days after his firing from the Bruins organization in Edmonton. His first major move wasn't of his praise; it was meant to happen. He drafted Connor McDavid first overall in the 2015 draft, who's arguably the greatest hockey player in the world right now.
Some people forget that this draft wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for Edmonton. Chiarelli traded the 16th and 33rd overall picks to the Islanders for defenseman Griffin Reinhart. Reinhart played just 29 games with the Oilers before becoming an AHL regular and is considered one of the biggest draft busts of all time. The 16th pick ended up becoming Matt Barzal, a game changer in today's league.
In the 2016 offseason, Chiarelli once again dealt a franchise-piece in hopes of retaining a game changer. He traded away former first overall selection Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson. Larsson played five seasons with the Oilers, recording 68 points and a +5 point-differential. Hall later won the Hart Trophy with the Devils, rubbing salt to the wound.
He signed Lucic, the former Bruin, to a seven-year, $42 million contract. The signing made little sense for the Oilers' direction, who was pushing more towards offense over Lucic's grittier playstyle. Chiarelli traded away young winger Jordan Eberle to the Islanders — a common theme — for Ryan Strome. Strome only played one full season before being dealt 18 games into the following season to the New York Rangers.
He signed Leon Draisaitl to a team-friendly to an eight-year, $68 million deal. Besides this outlier, Chiarelli managed to trade away a good amount of the Oilers' young core in exchange for veteran presence. The nail in the coffin for his tenure with Edmonton was signing goalie Mikko Koskinen to a three-year, $13.5 million deal. Koskinen only played four games prior to the signing with those games coming from nearly seven years before with, you guessed it, the Islanders.
He was fired 22 days after the new year in 2019. The impact he left on Edmonton wasn't a good one. The team struggled to recover from the goaltending situation, which is still seen today. Personally, I really think Edmonton could've walked away with one or two cup wins if Chiarelli prioritized developing the youth and securing strong goaltenders long-term.
Nashville doesn't need someone like Chiarelli; they need somebody with developmental experience
In recent years, the Predators have put more focus on their younger stars in the making. Guys like Matthew Wood, Luke Evangelista, and Ryan Ufko have been given more opportunities and look like they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. With Chiarelli, we don't know what he'll bring to the table. If it's anything like the past, it isn't hard to imagine that one of these guys will be packaged up for some veteran from Boston or New York.
Amongst the prominent names in the GM talks, I like Shanahan the most. Sure, he stuck with his core for too long but maybe a fresh start could help. He brought Toronto back the postseason and ensured that a rebuild occurred. He wasn't afraid to admit to one, he embraced it.
Rumors as of late reveal that Nashville is taking their time in the selection process. They should take their time and pick the right candidate to help saves the Predators' future.