3. Why delay the inevitable?
Another one of the criticisms against Brunette keeping his job is that he and Trotz might just not be the right head coach and GM for each other. Between Brunette's coaching style and Trotz's roster construction, they just seem like two things that do not mix, so why keep going down a route that is likely to fail?
If you are of this opinion, I feel your apprehension and I also am hesitant to trust that Trotz will make moves to make sure that all core organizational aspects, such as coach and players, mesh properly. But the fact is, you truly do not know what is going to happen, and making moves purely out of fear is not the best practice.
Once again, nobody thought the Predators would do what they did with Brunette in his first year as head coach. And for as many doubts as people might have, they do not know he will respond to this year and what changes he might make to his coaching.
And as I have talked about before, look at the mistake the Boston Bruins made by firing Jim Montgomery. They even did the same thing years before with Bruce Cassidy, and both decisions fall under the category of firing coaches with strong track records when the team had far bigger issues.
If the Predators were to have fired Brunette now, he got another job, and did well with it, then they would look really bad for not giving him another chance. By keeping him to start 2025-26, at least that is an outcome that they will avoid.
At this point, it is on Trotz to make sure the roster is good enough for Brunette to work with, and good enough in general. If Trotz had decided that overall roster plan really would not work with Brunette as coach, it would be one thing, but he is still here, so Trotz needs to make plans accordingly.
Additionally, fixing the Predators roster will not just happen in one offseason, whether it is one weakness or another, so they will not just avoid shortcomings while smartly building. But as long as they can take steps in the right direction, that is what we need to see, and it will give us a better chance to judge Brunette and his coaching.
And let's also play absolute doomsday scenario for the sake of it, where Trotz does not make the roster changes needed and everything is set up for Brunette and the team to fail. In this situation, a new coach would likely be in trouble too, because even though Brunette and other coaches have particular systems, the roster still needs changes and improvements no matter who is coaching.
The Predators would surely flame out, people would already be calling for the new coach's job, but typical leashes for new coaches would almost certainly give him a year plus. In this case, the organization would be in no better of a spot than if they just would have given Brunette another shot.
With him coming back, if he does not do well, they can justify firing him midseason, bringing in an interim guy in his place, and truly evaluating at the end of 2025-26. Now, this or the above scenario would still put them in the 2025-26 coaching search, but at least in this one, they could at least say they really tried with Brunette, and nothing improved.
I know this might come across as just not being proactive, but the truth is that in pro sports, or any business, sometimes you just have to let things play out before making major decisions. I truly believe the Predators are better off letting it play out with Brunette instead of pulling the trigger now.