Brunette hired as coach of Predators, replaces Hynes

Brunette, 49, was an associate coach for the New Jersey Devils this season. New Jersey went 52-22-8, finished second in the Metropolitan Division and reached the Eastern Conference Second Round, a five-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, with their first Stanley Cup Playoff series win since 2012. New Jersey set single-season team records for wins and points (112), an improvement of 25 wins and 49 points from the previous season.

He finished second in voting for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year last season to Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames, going 51-18-6 for the Panthers after Joel Quenneville resigned as coach Oct. 29. Florida finished 58-18-6 (122 points), the best record in its history, and won the Presidents’ Trophy for the best record in the regular season. The Panthers’ six-game victory against the Capitals was their first series win since 1996 before being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round.

Prior to joining the Panthers coaching staff June 4, 2019, Brunette worked seven seasons for the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach and various management roles. He joined the Devils on July 15, 2022, and played 1,110 games over 16 NHL seasons (1995-2012) as a forward with the Washington Capitals, Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks.

“I am super excited to be back in Nashville and a part of the Predators organization,” Brunette said Wednesday. “I feel like this is coming full circle for my career — from pulling on the jersey for the first time 25 years ago to returning now to take care of some unfinished business. It has been awesome to see how this city and its fanbase have grown since I played here and I look forward to continuing the legacy and the culture behind the bench that Barry cultivated that inaugural season.”

Brunette, who played with Nashville during the 1998-99 season, scored the first goal in Predators history on Oct. 13, 1998.

“As we look to bring back some of that iconic ‘Predators culture,’ I can think of no better coach than Andrew to lead our team moving forward,” incoming general manager Barry Trotz said Wednesday. “He thrived in that culture, and I believe he will coach our team in that same manner. And, while we did not hire Andrew because he was a key part of our first-ever team, I do like the fact that he has played games as a member of the Predators.”

The Predators (42-32-8) failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2013-14, finishing three points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card from the Western Conference. They had qualified for the postseason in each of Hynes’ first three seasons but did not win a series.

“He will be great with our young players, and I know, because of his background as a player, he will connect well with our top, skilled players,” Trotz said of Brunette. “At the end of the day, he is a good person who looks forward to working in partnership with our players to make them, and our team, better. I can’t wait to get in the foxhole with him.”

Under Brunette, the Devils power play ranked 13th this season (21.9 percent); it was 28th (15.6 percent) in 2021-22 before he arrived. Nashville ranked 27th on the power play this season (17.6 percent).

“When I look at our roster and those in our system, we have a lot of fast, skilled players and we will likely select more of those types of players in this year’s draft,” Trotz said. “We want to become more of an offensive team and Andrew specializes on that side of the ice — he lived it as a player, and he coaches it as a coach. He is as good of an offensive teacher and power-play coach as there is in the game today.”

Brunette is the second coach hired since the end of the regular season, following Spencer Carbery by the Capitals on Tuesday.

Hynes, who had one season remaining on a two-year contract he signed with the Predators on May 19, 2022, was 134-96-18 in 248 regular-season games with Nashville since replacing Peter Laviolette on Jan. 7, 2020. He was 3-11 in 14 postseason games.

Assistant coach Dan Lambert also was fired.

Hynes helped the Predators remain in the playoff race this season even after they moved out several players prior to the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, including defenseman Mattias Ekholm (Edmonton Oilers), and forwards Nino Niederreiter (Jets), Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Mikael Granlund (Pittsburgh Penguins). Defenseman Roman Josi (concussion), and forwards Matt Duchene (finger), Filip Forsberg (concussion) and Ryan Johansen (surgery on right leg) also missed significant time because of injuries this season.

“John Hynes is a good man and a good hockey coach,” Trotz said Tuesday. “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.”

Hynes is 284-255-63 in 602 regular-season games as coach of the Devils and Predators, and 4-15 in 19 playoff games. He was the sixth coach to be let go since the season ended, joining Dallas Eakins (Anaheim Ducks), Peter Laviolette (Capitals), Brad Larsen (Columbus Blue Jackets), Sutter (Flames) and Gerard Gallant (New York Rangers).