John Hynes fired by Nashville Predators; Andrew Brunette expected to replace him

There's a new general manager in town. There's also going to be a new coach in town for the Nashville Predators.

John Hynes no longer will be head coach of the team, the Predators announced Tuesday. Assistant coach Dan Lambert also was fired.

The Predators are expected to hire former Predator Andrew Brunette as Hynes' replacement, a person with direct knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Tennessean on Tuesday. He will be the fourth coach in franchise history.

"John Hynes is a good man and a good hockey coach," incoming general manager Barry Trotz said in a statement released by the team. "He did an outstanding job after the trade deadline with our team, especially with our young players, and he is a well-prepared, hard-working coach who will continue to grow in the NHL.

"After our year-end meetings and some additional evaluation, it was time to change the voice and time to go in a different direction. On behalf of all of us at the Predators, we'd like to thank John for all his work here and wish him and his family all the best moving forward."

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Hynes, 48, has one year left on his contract. He was 134-95-18 in three-plus seasons after taking over for Peter Laviolette in January 2020. Hynes led the team to the playoffs during his first three seasons. The Predators' streak of postseason appearances ended at eight this season, when the team finished 42-32-8, three points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Their 92 points is the most in franchise history for a non-playoff team.

Hynes did not immediately return a message left for him by The Tennessean on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite a rash of injuries and being sellers at the trade deadline, the Predators managed to stay in the playoff hunt until almost the end of the season.

Trotz, who is replacing the retiring David Poile this summer, said after the season ended in April that he still was in the process of evaluating Hynes and his staff.

"John has a contract," Trotz said after the season. "This will be a process. I'm going to evaluate it from the players to the staff to John. We're going to talk about his plan for next year and go from there. You have to respect the process."

Trotz also said in April that he and Hynes "get along great," adding that Hynes "has a great personality" and that both he and Hynes were "hockey nerds." He also referred to Hynes as a "very well-prepared coach."

The 49-year-old Brunette, who scored the first goal in Predators history, has limited NHL coaching experience. He took over for Joel Quenneville during the 2021-22 season and guided the Florida Panthers to a 51-18-6 record and the Presidents' Trophy.

He was an assistant coach for two seasons with the Minnesota Wild and was an assistant general manager with the team. He was an assistant for Florida before taking over for Quenneville. Most recently he had been an assistant with the New Jersey Devils.

Brunette had 11 goals and 20 assists in his only season with the Predators. He played 1,110 regular-season games in 16 seasons overall, recording 268 goals and 465 assists while playing for six teams. He had 17 goals and 18 assists in 49 career playoff games.

Brunette was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on Feb. 1 after he was pulled over by police, who also charged him with two counts of disobeying a stop or yield sign while he was driving a golf cart.

According to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, the Predators also interviewed Spencer Carbery to be head coach. On Tuesday, Carbery was named head coach of the Washington Capitals.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators fire John Hynes, expected to hire Andrew Brunette