Nashville Predators GM Search: Are They Heading in the Wrong Direction?

Following Barry Trotz's announcement that he will step down as general manager at the end of the 2025-26 season, the Nashville Predators have begun searching for his successor, exploring candidates from outside the organization, something unprecedented in their history. For many years, David Poile held the position of GM from the start of the franchise until the 2022-23 season, leaving a legacy that will be fondly remembered in Nashville, despite some mistakes at the end of his tenure.

Trotz's era as GM, however, has been seen as a failure, especially after betting heavily on an aging team in the 2024 offseason, which resulted in one of the team's worst campaigns in the 2024-25 season.

Faced with this situation, the Predators have chosen to seek a new leader from outside their ranks, interviewing several candidates in a process that is expected to be long and exhaustive. However, the possible inclusion of certain names on the list has raised concerns among the team's fans. Peter Chiarelli, who recently held the position of vice president of hockey operations with the St. Louis Blues, divisional rivals, is one of the candidates that worries the fans.

Chiarelli left his position in March with the intention of positioning himself for the job in Nashville. Despite his extensive experience as GM of the Boston Bruins (2006-15) and the Edmonton Oilers (2015-19), his track record is far from impeccable. While he is credited with building the Stanley Cup-winning team in 2011 with Boston, his management was also marked by questionable decisions.

In 2013, Chiarelli traded rising star Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Louis Eriksson and other pieces of lesser impact. In addition, he granted major contract extensions with no-movement clauses to players such as Dennis Seidenberg, Milan Lucic, and Chris Kelly, which forced him to send Johnny Boychuk to the New York Islanders for second-round picks.

His time with the Oilers lacked similar successes, wasting the early years of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl by not providing the necessary depth in the squad. Although he was right to sign Draisaitl to a favorable contract after his entry-level agreement, these types of moves were scarce. His contract with Lucic (seven years, $42 million) is considered one of the worst of the 2016 free agency, and the contracts of Andrej Sekara (six years, $33 million) and Kris Russell (four years, $16 million) were also criticized.

As for transfers, Chiarelli's record is not encouraging either. In the 2016 offseason, he sent rising star Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defender Adam Larsson, a decision that backfired when Hall won the Hart Trophy in the 2017-18 season. Some argue that Chiarelli was primarily responsible for Garth Snow remaining as GM of the New York Islanders for so long.

The Boychuk transfer was damaging, but Chiarelli went a step further in Edmonton by sending winger Jordan Eberle, who was underperforming, for Ryan Strome in the 2017 offseason, only for Eberle to find his game in New York. He also transferred a first and a second round for Griffin Reinhart, selections that became Mat Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier (the Islanders moved up to choose him).

Another name on the list of candidates is Marc Bergevin, former GM of the Montreal Canadiens between 2012 and 2021, known for making risky decisions that sometimes turned out well, but often backfired. He is credited with some moves, such as the transfers of Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk, which turned out very favorable in hindsight.

Max Domi reached a personal record of 72 points the year after Bergevin acquired him for Galchenyuk, and Nick Suzuki is the superstar of the current franchise, even better than Pacioretty was in Montreal. Bergevin also deserves credit for choosing Cole Caufield in the draft, and the Shea Weber-P.K. Subban agreement also benefited him. In addition, he made some minor moves, such as the transfer of Jeff Petry and the acquisition of Tomas Tatar in the Pacioretty agreement. Some of these moves helped Montreal reach the Stanley Cup final in 2021.

However, his bold transfers and signings also harmed him. Carey Price's contract extension (eight years, $84 million) in the 2017 offseason was exorbitant, and Price was never the same after the extension. He also sent Mikhail Sergachev for Jonathan Drouin that same offseason, and Drouin never triumphed in Montreal, while Sergachev became a number 1 defender with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

His record in free agency is plagued with errors, with disastrous contracts for Karl Alzner in 2017 (five years, $23.125 million), Josh Anderson in 2020 (seven years, $38.5 million) and Brendan Gallagher in 2020 (six years, $39 million). The Canadiens are still dealing with the Anderson and Gallagher contracts today.

The Predators are in a decent position for any new GM. As of March 31, they are in playoff positions, and although this is because the Western Conference is very unbalanced, the Predators have the talent to compete in the playoffs. They also have an interesting young core, led by Matthew Wood, Joakim Kemell and Brady Martin.

They still have to deal with the contracts of Brady Skjei and Jonathan Marchessault, but Nashville has superstar talent and a devoted fan base. However, the Predators will need a GM with a new vision for the team, whether it's embarking on a rebuild or building on the squad (with smarter moves). Trotz's management in Nashville proved that a lot can change in a short time, and the Predators must keep this in mind for their next GM.