Evening Notes: Scott, Panarin, Foegele
According to John Shannon of Sportsnet, the Vancouver Canucks are interviewing Bill Scott, Assistant General Manager for the Edmonton Oilers, for their vacant General Manager position. As Shannon noted, Scott has already interviewed for the same position with the Nashville Predators.
Scott has been with the Oilers for a little over a decade. He began as the Assistant General Manager ahead of the 2014-15 season, before being promoted to the Director of Hockey Operations role two years later. He held that position for six seasons, specifically focusing on the Oilers’ salary cap.
There’s no word on whether any other candidate has an edge, but the organization must think somewhat highly of Scott if they’re willing to interview him. The Canucks have also been linked to former player Shane Doan, who is currently with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a special assistant to the General Manager. Additionally, Vancouver already has a capable in-house candidate in Ryan Johnson, who has received interest from other clubs.
Additional notes from this evening:
- There were ramifications to the Artemi Panarin trade now that the Los Angeles Kings have been eliminated from the postseason. According to Peter Baugh of The Athletic, since the Kings did not win a series, they will send their 2026 third-round pick to the New York Rangers. If they had miraculously ousted the Colorado Avalanche, the Rangers would have received Los Angeles’ second-round pick.
- The Rangers weren’t the only team affected by the Kings’ loss today. According to PuckPedia, since it is now confirmed that Los Angeles will finish lower than the Dallas Stars in the standings, the Senators will receive Dallas’ 2026 third-round pick in the Warren Foegele trade.
Latest On Predators GM Search
It has been four months since the Nashville Predators announced general manager Barry Trotz‘s plans to step down from his role this summer. They have been in the thick of a search for a replacement ever since, building up a long list of candidates along the way. That list is expected to continue growing with the NHL regular season now wrapped up, which allows Nashville the chance to speak with candidates that they did not have immediate permission to interview per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.
The influx of options after the end of the season has helped Nashville begin checking names off of their list. Internal candidates Jeff Kealty and Scott Nichol, both currently assistant GMs with Nashville, have been informed they are no longer candidates according to Seravalli. That means the Predators’ next GM will likely come from outside of the organization, putting much more focus on the team’s upcoming interviews. That importance is clear to the Predators’ ownership. Minority owner and record-holding college football coach Nick Saban has even sat in on some interviews, adds Seravalli.
Through early interviews, three candidates have emerged above the rest. Edmonton Oilers AGM Bill Scott, Florida Panthers AGM Brett Peterson, and Dallas Stars AGM Scott White have each had multiple in-person interviews for the role according to Seravalli.
Scott handles the Oilers’ day-to-day cap management and contract negotiations with players and staff. He was a minor-league GM for four years before joining the Oilers, with a focus on interpreting the league’s by-laws and collective bargaining agreement. Scott now serves as the Oilers’ liaison to the NHL for any matters related to the CBA.
Peterson was vice president of the Wasserman Media Group before joining the Panthers’ staff in 2020. During his own playing days, Peterson – a member of the 2001 National Championship-winning Boston College Eagles – was represented by current Panthers GM Bill Zito. That connection eventually transformed into a role in Florida’s front office, where Peterson offers expertise in roster and cap management. He was also named the GM of Team USA for the 2026 World Championship.
White handles GM duties of the AHL’s Texas Stars and also serves as Dallas’ Director of Hockey Operations. He has been with the Stars since 2005, took over GM duties for the AHL’s Stars in 2009, and became an NHL AGM in 2016. In that time, White has overseen a Texas Stars team that won the 2014 Calder Cup and finished as runner-ups in 2010 and 2018. In total, the AHL Stars have made 12 of a possible 15 postseasons since White took over management duties – excluding the cancelled 2020 postseason. He also brings a key focus on roster management, a trait that seems to be a major focal point of Nashville’s GM search.
The Predators also spoke with New York Rangers AGM Ryan Martin, a veteran of NHL front offices who began his career with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005. Martin was Detroit’s Director of Hockey Administration during their 2008 Stanley Cup win, then led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to Calder Cup Championships as their GM in 2013 and 2017. He also supported the USA World Junior Championship roster as a scout for their 2021 Gold Medal win. Martin
Despite a trio of candidates rising to the top, the Predators’ next GM may not have had their first interview just yet. Nashville plans to interview former New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald later this week. Fitzgerald was named the first captain in Predators’ history in 1998. He held the honor for four seasons and was leaned on as a defensive-winger during his time with Nashville. He moved on in 2002 and retired from playing in 2006.
Fitzgerald’s managerial career began in a player development role with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the following season. He was promoted to AGM in 2009 and held onto the role for six years, leaving right before the club won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. While his old club sized rings, Fitzgerald moved to an AGM role with the Devils, a position he would be promoted from partway through the 2019-20 season. The Devils made two of a possible six postseasons under Fitzgerald’s reign. Questions around his ability to make meaningful changes and upgrades to the roster boiled to the surface, though experience in the Predators’ organization and an already-established prospect pool could be enough to put him on the right track in his second GM role.
If not Fitzgerald, the Predators could also move forward with former Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin or Boston Bruins AGM Jamie Langenbrunner per Pagnotta. Those names will round out a lengthy shortlist for Nashville’s open GM chair. Their options include years of GM experience, assistants on the rise, and innovative and stat-driven thinkers. It doesn’t seem the Predators will be in much of a rush to make their decision, with interviews still on the schedule and the Stanley Cup Playoffs yet to play out. On the other side of the postseason, Nashville will face a choice that will define the club’s future through the 2020s.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports.
Latest On Nashville’s GM Search
The Predators are no longer the only team currently in the market for a new general manager after Toronto fired Brad Treliving earlier this week. That said, given that current GM Barry Trotz gave notice of his intention to step down just over two months ago, Nashville is much farther along in their search for a replacement.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Preds are believed to be nearing the in-person stage of their interviewing process, if they’re not there already. He added that he believes Bill Scott (Oilers), Scott White (Stars), Brett Peterson (Panthers), and former Arizona GM John Chayka will be part of that process. Additionally, the team reached out to Win Hockey Agency’s Matt Keator to assess his possible interest but it doesn’t appear he is in the next round of interviews. Meanwhile, Friedman added that Predators assistant GM Jeff Kealty could still be in the mix as well.
Scott has held various roles in Edmonton dating back to 2010 when he first joined the team as GM of their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. Since then, he has also held the title of Director of Hockey Operations (including Director of Salary Cap Management) and has been an assistant GM for the Oilers since the 2022-23 campaign.
As for White, he has been with Dallas even longer, dating back to the 2005-06 season when he joined AHL Iowa as their Director of Hockey Operations. Before that, he had spent the past ten years coaching in either college of the ECHL. Since then, White worked his way up to being assistant GM of their AHL squad (now in Texas) and has been an assistant GM with the Stars since 2016.
Peterson, meanwhile, has held an AGM title with Florida since 2020. He also has some international experience, having worked with USA Hockey for the last two World Championships and will serve as the GM for their entry into next month’s tournament as well.
Chayka is the one candidate on this list who is well-known going back to his time with the Coyotes. After just one season as an assistant GM, he was promoted to the top job for the 2016-17 campaign and executed a data-driven approach. Along the way, he brought in several players of consequence (including Derek Stepan, Taylor Hall, and Nick Schmaltz, among others) while utilizing his cap space to add assets for taking on burdensome LTIR-bound contracts. He abruptly resigned from the team in July 2020, just before the ‘bubble playoffs’ started, and hasn’t worked in the NHL since then.
Kealty is certainly the longest-tenured person in this group; he has worked with the Predators since 2001. He started off as a scout, working his way up to Director of Amateur Scouting, then Director of Scouting (professional and amateur). Kealty added the assistant GM title back in 2018 and has held the dual role ever since.
With Trotz staying in his role until a successor is found and the draft still a little more than two months away, there is still plenty of time for the Predators to pick their next general manager. But it appears they’re a step closer to doing so now that they’ve entered the next phase of their search.