Andrew Brunette was the member of two expansion teams — the Nashville Predators and Atlanta Thrashers — and he will get his first full-time coaching gig with one of them.
He is not headed back to Blueland.
Barry Trotz, Brunette’s coach with the Nashville Predators in that first season in Music City, is expected to introduce Brunette as just the fourth coach in that franchise’s history today.
Trotz is not the GM of the Predators just yet as he takes over for David Poile later this summer but make no mistake, this was his hire.
For Brunette — who scored the first goal in Nashville’s history helping lead to a win over the Hurricanes and Paul Maurice — this is his chance to run his own team after being passed over by the Panthers last summer.
Brunette was named interim coach of the Panthers on Oct. 28, 2021, when Joel Quenneville abruptly resigned.
He helped lead Florida to the Presidents’ Trophy and finished second in voting for the Jack Adams Coach of the Year.
After Florida hired Maurice last June, Brunette was offered to stay on as an assistant coach but opted to join Lindy Ruff in New Jersey.
Brunette has also been an assistant coach in Minnesota as well as being on Quenneville’s original staff in Florida starting in 2019.
FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW
The Panthers are playing the Vegas Golden Knights and, unknown to them at the time, helped build them into a team which has made the playoffs in five of their six seasons in the NHL.
Now, Vegas is back in the Final for the second time — and will be facing the Panthers.
Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith, players the Panthers gave up at the 2017 expansion draft, have been a big part of Vegas’ success.
— Gus Forsling has been one of Florida’s unsung heroes during this run to the Cup Final and he had a big hand in beating the Hurricanes — the team which waived him in 2021 allowing the panthers to snap him up. Story publishes at 9:30 a.m.
— Patric Hornqvist has not played for the Panthers since December but he is doing everything he can to help his team reach that ultimate goal.
”I am happy, so glad we are in this position right now,’’ Hornqvist said. “To be through that journey, for me, is so special. I feel spoiled to be part of it one more time.”
— The Panthers have another odd postgame ritual during these playoffs. It involves a rawhide dog chew. It is apparently not tasty, either.
— Now we know Pete DeBoer will be rooting for his longtime friend Paul Maurice in the Cup Final after the Stars got the boot from the Knights on Monday night.
— Is this too much time off for the Panthers?
— There is a TON of video is up on the FHN YouTube Channel including Game 4 postgame reaction from Paul Maurice, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matthew Tkachuk, Anton Lundell, Sasha Barkov and Aaron Ekblad.
There will also be plenty of off-day video coming as we work our way through the week.
To see all the videos, you can click the embedded videos below or head directly to the FHN YouTube Channel RIGHT HERE to see everything all in one place.
If you hit subscribe (it’s free), you will know when new content comes up.
NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW
The Vegas Golden Knights saw the Panthers having a lot of fun with the Prince of Wales Trophy the other night — and went the other way.
— Taking a look at some of the Boston Bruins free agents, including one Tyler Bertuzzi. Could he be heading south?
— The Montreal Canadiens have an interesting decision to make when it comes to Samuel Montembeault.
— Either Kyle Dubas accepts the GM job or the Pittsburgh Penguins are moving on.
— Would trading Carter Hart be in the best interests of the Philadelphia Flyers?
— Did the San Jose Sharks give up on Adin Hill a little too soon? The Golden Knights think so.
More must-reads: