NHL Rumours: Nashville Predators General Manager Search

It’s time for some more NHL rumours. We’re nearing the end of the 2025-26 regular season. However, we’ve already seen some massive changes late in the campaign. We’ve seen two coaches and two general managers already be relieved of their duties. However, there’s another club has announced that they’ll be making a change at the general manager position.

That team that got a jump start on their general manager search was the Nashville Predators. This edition of NHL rumours deals with some of the names that have been mentioned in the search.

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.

NHL Rumours

Update on the Nashville Predators General Manager Search

Rumour: We take a look at the candidates that have been mentioned to take the Predators’ GM search. This is a roundup from different sources.

Analysis: Nashville will be moving on from Barry Trotz and his relatively short tenure. The Predators are hoping for the next general manager will have the success of Hall of Fame GM David Poile, who served in the post for over two decades.

Frank Seravalli was on Halford and Brough to talk about the cast of names that have been bandied about for the post. There are some former GMs like Peter Chiarelli, Marc Bergevin, and Rob Blake that were mentioned. However, there were others like Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Pronger, and others.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added that assistant GM Jeff Kealty might be considered for the post. However, Friedman added that the team has already conducted in-person interviews last week. Names like Brett Peterson; Bill Scott; Darren Yorke were talked about in recent edition of 32 Thoughts.

Nashville was also interested in talking to Carolina Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky. However, the Predators were denied permission. This was mentioned in the recent edition of Saturday Headlines. However, nothing will likely come of it. The Preds are looking far and wide and taking their time with the search. However, one other name may be a late entry to the fray.

What It Means

Nashville’s ownership group may decide to give former New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald a look. Friedman mentioned this during another recent edition of 32 Thoughts. The Predators would have had to ask for permission. However, Fitzgerald was fired on Monday and could be open to returning to a place where he was a player. Both sides can start talking to each other because Nashville doesn’t need permission from New Jersey due to the firing.

The Predators are defying expectations this season and are in the mix for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. However, there are lot of aging players with large contracts. There was plenty of chatter during the trade deadline about sending some of these veterans out. However, the Preds decided to stand pat and have a puncher’s chance of reaching the playoffs.

Nashville does have an advantage of not having a state sales tax, so it does have some advantages in luring free agents. However, there are other posts like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Devils that have open general manager jobs. We’ll see what direction the Predators want to go and Friedman thinks this could be the week a hire gets made.