May 31: The wait seems inconsequential, as Brunette has been officially announced as the Predators’ new head coach.
May 30: The Nashville Predators have confirmed at least part of their widely reported coaching change, officially announcing that head coach John Hynes has been relieved of his duties with one year remaining on his contract. The team also announced that assistant coach Dan Lambert, who also had a one-year tenure left on his deal, will not be returning.
Somewhat interestingly, the team did not confirm today’s earlier reports that New Jersey Devils assistant coach Andrew Brunette was set to take over as Hynes’ replacement. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun now expects the official announcement to come tomorrow morning.
Lambert worked with the Predators’ forward group and power-play units for four seasons from 2019 to 2023. During Lambert’s tenure, the team achieved a power-play success rate of 19.5 percent, including a franchise record of 24.4 percent in the 2021-22 season. Incoming general manager Barry Trotz commended Lambert as a quality power-play coach and thanked him for his contributions, particularly during a season marked by roster changes.
Trotz also released an official statement on Hynes, who was fired after recording the second-highest point percentage by a head coach in franchise history:
John Hynes is a good man and a good hockey coach. 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.
Team president and CEO John Henry also released a statement, thanking Hynes and Lambert for their work during a difficult time off-ice for the team and the city of Nashville.
I’d like to thank John, Dan and their families for all they did for the Predators and our community. We appreciate all their work during their respective tenures with us, helping our team push through so many difficulties that hit us all in 2020 – from the tornadoes to the pandemic and the Christmas morning explosion, they always had our team ready to serve the community. John and Dan also guided us to three playoff appearances and additionally ensured our team represented Smashville well in the 2022 NHL Stadium Series and in Bern and Prague in the 2023 NHL Global Series. We will always be grateful for their contributions.
Hynes to the Rangers
Lol.
The team that the Preds started out with in the 2022/23 was their best lineup in the past 4 seasons, yet Hynes couldn’t get nearly as much from that group as he should’ve. He did well with a torn down roster after the trade deadline, but that seems to be his specialty.
I think he’s the coaching equivalent of, like… Nic Petan or Andrew Poturalski. He might be the best assistant/associate coach in the entire league, just not sure he’s a guy you can win a Cup with as your head coach.
Would’ve been interesting to see where the Preds would’ve been prior to this year’s trade deadline had a different coach been behind the bench. The big sell off may not have needed to happen.
Brunette got his suit coached off last year in the playoffs with Florida.
Not so sure the Preds need a full blown rebuild, They have a pretty good mix of young talent along with some solid vets, You may recall that after this past trade deadline they did unload some talented vets and still nearly made the playoffs.
Hynes inability to properly use a player like Tolvanen is likely a big reason Trotz went in a different direction.