Predators' Barry Trotz had his eye on Andrew Brunette — and here's how he got him

Just as the clock struck 1 p.m. Wednesday, Andrew Brunette took his first official steps as the Nashville Predators' fourth head coach.

Brunette, whom the team hired to replaced John Hynes, strolled down a hallway outside a meeting room inside Bridgestone Arena. He was flanked by the team's two general managers — the incoming in Barry Trotz and the outgoing in David Poile.

The three wore matching dark blue Predators polo shirts and looks of optimism as they took their seats on a stage, three rows of precisely placed chairs, each 15 in number, facing them.

To their left, near a doorway, Predators Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, Yakov Trenin, Dante Fabbro, Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to hear from their new boss.

Just before the three men on stage posed for a photo while holding a gold Predators sweater with Brunette's name stitched on the back, Trotz officially introduced Brunette to the room.

"Please welcome back the next coach of the Nashville Predators, Andrew Brunette," Trotz said.

From a 'chubby kid' to Predators coach

Poile, the man who drafted Brunette in 1993 when he was GM of the Washington Capitals and brought him to Nashville for the team's inaugural season five years later, then took a seat to Brunette's right. To his left sat Trotz, the man who coached Brunette for four seasons in the AHL and one in the NHL, the man who hired him to be the fourth head coach in franchise history.

"It's kind of full circle for me in a lot of different ways," said Brunette, 49. "The relationships we're able to build is what makes this game so special.

"Thirty years ago Mr. Poile drafted me, a chubby kid coming out of junior hockey and gave me an opportunity to be a Washington Capital, with Barry along for the ride, being with Barry in the American League, learning to be and pro. So this, for me, is unbelievable."

Brunette said he had several opportunities with other teams but that the decision to take the Nashville job was a "no-brainer."

Trotz felt the same about Brunette. The latter landed on the former's list of three finalists for the job after Trotz decided to fire Hynes. But he had to wait to talk to him until after the New Jersey Devils were eliminated from the playoffs.

A few days after that happened in mid-May, Brunette's phone rang.

"Barry called and things escalated pretty quickly," Brunette said. "When Barry calls, you listen."

When Trotz called, Brunette was a season removed from having an interim tag with the Florida Panthers, whom he helped to the Presidents' Trophy in 2021-22. He has just 75 games as an NHL coach to his credit, but his team was 51-18-6 that season.

Patience is key

After he received that first taking-the-temperature call, Brunette described his reaction as "excited." He and his wife Lorie talked and talked. They talked about his days in Nashville. They talked about his relationship with Trotz and Poile.

He urged her to be patient.

"I wouldn't be here if she didn't want me to pursue this," Brunette said. "She's shown patience in allowing me to chase some dreams. She's done that for our whole life together."

Brunette's remarriage to the Predators was an easy decision, he reiterated. Brunette's journey back to Nashville included a two-year stop with the Minnesota Wild, for whom he was an assistant coach and spent some time as an assistant general manager. He also was an assistant for Florida before he took over for Joel Quenneville but was not retained after that 2021-22 season.

On the ice, Brunette recorded 11 goals and 20 assists in his one season with Nashville. He had 268 goals and 465 assists in 1,110 regular-season games spanning 16 seasons and six teams, something Trotz said will only help him as he takes over a team that has its sights set on getting younger and faster.

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Sweet memories

At the forefront of the Nashville memories involving Brunette, Poile and Trotza occurred on Oct. 13, 1998, the day Brunette scored the first goal in franchise history.

"One of the biggest highlights of my career," Brunette said. "Kind of like everything I did, it was slow. The goal review, of course, had to be really slow, and the tension in the building because we hadn't scored yet. The place was ready to erupt.

"It's something I hold very dear to my heart."

Poile officially will retire on June 30. He couldn't help but smile as he sat mostly in silence, looking at the men next to him. "I thought it was full circle when I rehired Barry," Poile said. "But this is a double circle, a rainbow.

"This is so cool."

After the final questions were asked, Brunette made a beeline off the stage and toward the players lining the doorway. He immediately starting shaking hands, one by one, his second step as the coach of the Nashville Predators.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Predators' Barry Trotz had his eye on Andrew Brunette to be coach