In a somewhat surprising Feb. 2 news conference, Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced his intent to retire from his position, citing a desire to spend more time with his family – not team performance, a desire to return to coaching or, most important, health concerns – as his reason for stepping down as just the second general manager in franchise history.
Trotz officially took over as the team’s general manager July 1, 2023, succeeding David Poile, who guided the team from the franchise’s inception.
Trotz’s contract runs through the 2026-27 season, but chairman and majority owner Bill Haslam said he hoped to have a new general manager in place before the 2026 Entry Draft in late June. Trotz says he will remain with the team in an advisory role once the transition to the next general manager takes place.
The on-ice results for the Predators have been mixed, but largely unimpressive, which aren’t necessarily an indictment of Trotz’s tenure. He was handed an aging roster and a depleted pool of prospects. Trotz went on a spending spree July 1, 2024, signing free agents like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei to large contracts.
That summer, Trotz also signed goaltender Juuse Saros to an 8-year contract with an average annual value of $7.74 million that began at the start of this season. In signing Saros, Trotz also traded away goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov, a former first round draft pick, to the San Jose Sharks.
Saros has largely struggled this season, the first year of his deal. Should Saros not be able to shake the woes that he’s experienced this season, that contract combined with the trade of Askarov may, either fairly or unfairly, define Trotz’s brief tenure as general manager.
How will search work?
Now the attention moves to who will replace Trotz and guide the franchise moving forward. Haslam and the ownership group as well as others, including Trotz and new minority owner Nick Saban, will begin looking at candidates immediately.
Will they look internally or is this an opportunity to get someone from outside for a different perspective?
The Predators currently have three assistant general managers:
• Jeff Kealty – the longtime director of scouting.
• Scott Nichol – the former Predator player who currently also serves as the general manager of the Predators AHL affiliate the Milwaukee Admirals.
• Brian Poile – the current director of hockey operations and son of inaugural general manager David Poile.
During the news conference announcing Trotz’s impending retirement, Haslam announced that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) had been hired to guide the search.
While not necessarily a guarantee that the Predators will go outside the organization for their next manager, hiring an outside agency to lead the search isn’t a ringing endorsement of the internal candidates.
Less than a week later, CAA announced it would not lead the search after the NHL Players Association raised concerns over a potential conflict of interest since the high-power agency represents a number of NHL players, including multiple Predators.
In recent years, NHL teams have ventured outside of the same group of general managers who moved from team to team. Former player agents and analytics gurus have become general managers in hires that now guide some of the league’s franchises.
“We’re going to look at a lot of different people,” Haslam says.