After spending nearly "half his life" with the Nashville Predators, Jeff Kealty has made the move out west, joining the San Jose Sharks front office as an Assistant General Manager. 

The move was announced on Friday, and Kealty didn't decide to leave lightly. 

"This was a very difficult decision for me, just based on how long I've been in Nashville," Kealty said in a press conference on Monday. "I was there (Nashville) for 25 years. I just turned 50 years old, so if you do the math, that's half my life.

"It's a massive change for me, both personally and professionally, but at the end of the day, as hard as it was from a human aspect, I just felt that this was really good timing in terms of most people making multiple changes in their careers. I hadn't made any yet." 

Kealty had joined the Predators staff as an amature scout back in 2001, eventually moving up the ranks to Director of Amateur Scouting (2007-2018), Director of Scouting (2018-2026) and Assistant General Manager (2018-2026). 

He was also Team USA's general manager at the 2025 World Championship, where the Americans won Gold for the first time since 1933. 

With Kealty heading the scouting effort for 18 years, the Predators have drafted the likes of Roman Josi, Colin Wilson, Ryan Ellis, Craig Smith, Mattias Ekholm, Seth Jones and Kevin Fiala. 

Sharks General Manger Mike Grier had reached out to Predators General Manager Chris MacFarland following the start of NHL free agency. Kealty said that while it was very difficult to leave Nashville, the job in San Jose was "too good an opportunity to pass on." 

There was also no animosity between Kealty and MacFarland. 

In May, Kealty told local media that he had been interviewed for the GM position in Nashville and, although he did not get it, was grateful for the opportunity. On Monday, revisiting the topic, Kealty said that while he was disappointed he wasn't selected, he believed MacFarland was "a fantastic hire." 

"He's (MacFarland) is going to do great things there," Kealty said. "I never looked at it like I didn't get that job and I've got to move on, or anything like that, but this opportunity came about, and it's just too good an opportunity to not take a chance at." 

MacFarland also made a flurry of hires upon his arrival in Nashville, including Vukie Mpofu as an assistant general manager and Brian Poile, who exited the front office after serving as assistant general manager since 2018. 

Kealty said he was not getting pushed out the door by MacFarland and still had a spot on the staff in Nashville among MacFarland's new hires. 

"We just had great conversations when he came through the door," Kealty said on working with MacFarland. "My working experience with him through the month, through the draft and all that was great. I think he and I would have worked really well together, and even going through this process, it was a great sounding board for me." 

With nearly three decades of NHL experience, Kealty said he has seen a lot and believes the Sharks and Predators have been on a similar pace over the last decade. Adding that San Jose went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and Nashville went the following year. 

However, Kealty did add that Nashville had not gone through a "full rebuild" during his time there. 

"We were probably operating a little bit differently back then in terms of what we were trying to do with the team," Kealty said. "I don't think we ever quite went down to full rebuild mode, but we did have our leaner years where we were trying to kind of retool, restock, whatever you want to call it."