(Nashville) The Nashville Predators have fired head coach John Hynes and his assistant Dan Lambert.
Both coaches still had one season left on their respective contracts.
According to various media, Andrew Brunette will be named head coach of the Predators. This news would be announced on Wednesday morning.
These are the first major decisions made by Barry Trotz, who will officially inherit the role of general manager from David Poile on July 1.
Under Hynes’ guidance, the Predators have gone 134-96-18 and have qualified for the playoffs three times in three and a half seasons since he was hired in January 2020.
The Predators had 92 points this winter with a 42-32-8 record. They finished three points behind the Winnipeg Jets and last in the playoffs in the Western Conference.
“Following our end-of-season meeting and after further discussions, we concluded that it was best to go in another direction,” Trotz said in a statement.
Hynes also managed the New Jersey Devils during his career.
For his part, Lambert had been on the Predators coaching staff since 2019.
Brunette was an assistant coach with the Devils this season. He had inherited the command of the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season, but the team had decided to replace him with Paul Maurice during the summer of 2022.