The Predators risk repeating past mistakes by looking backward for their next general manager. It's time for fresh eyes and a new direction.
Nostalgia is addictive. It's fun to remember the good times and try to recreate those memories in the present.
However, that's exactly why they are memories.
The Nashville Predators have been clinging to the past for a while, for better and worse. Maintaining the Smashville identity is integral to this organization, but the faces behind that vision need to change.
Bringing back the team's first and most successful head coach, Barry Trotz, to lead the front office as a first-time general manager wasn't an awful decision.
His strength has been in drafting and setting the table for the future. Trotz brought in star players like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Ryan O'Reilly and kept a handful of key players in Nashville, including Luke Evangelista, Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen.
However, the corps could not make a deep playoff run, making the postseason just once in the last three seasons and posting one of the franchise's worst records during the 2024-25 campaign.
Trotz set this team up for success from 1998 to 2014, but could not replicate that magic in a new decade in a new position.
Mar 16, 2009, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz gestures from the bench in the third period against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center. The Predators defeated the Kings 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-Imagn ImagesThat nostalgic energy played a part in hiring a new head coach back in 2023, when Andrew Brunette, who played for Trotz and the Predators in their inaugural season, was hired as a first-year head coach.
In his third season, while he showed growth, it wasn't enough to get Nashville into the playoffs for a second straight season.
With Trotz stepping away from the GM chair, the Predators have a chance to bring an outsider in, start a new chapter in their history and try something different. This is their opportunity to prove that were a team of today and tomorrow, and no longer yesterday.
It is rumored that the Predators are still leaning toward the past, "leaning toward" ousted New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who served as the Predators' first captain for four seasons from 1998 to 2002.
NHL insider David Pagnotta said on the DFO Rundown podcast on April 29 that he believes the Predators are leaning toward going down the Tom Fitzgerald route as their new GM.
Pagnotta's observation is just one of many from NHL insiders over the last month that have said Fitzgerald is a leading candidate for the Predators' top front office job.
On Friday, Elliotte Friedman added that the Vancouver Canucks have asked to talk to Fitzgerald, but even he is focused on becoming the Predators' GM.
Fitzgerald has won a Stanley Cup in a front office role with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 as the team's Director of Player Development, but has had a really lackluster stint when in the GM role.
He was named the New Jersey Devils general manager after Ray Shero was fired in 2020. Fitzgerald served as the team's assistant GM from 2015 to 2020.
In his time as the organization's GM, the Devils qualified for the playoffs just twice in 2023 and 2025, making it beyond the first round just once. Both years, the Devils' season ended at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
With top talent like Nico Heischer, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, along with role players filtering in and out, the Devils have failed to put together a successful corps and after posting a 42-37-8 record in the regular season, they are flirting with a full rebuild.
It's a similar situation to the Predators, where a successful corps has been put together, and it's just not clicking.
Unlike the Predators, the Devils have had three head coaches in the last five years and fired their GM after nothing had changed.
Nov 30, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils executive vice president/general managerTom Fitzgerald, addresses the media about the contract extension of New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) before the start of the game against the San Jose Sharks at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Tom Horak-Imagn ImagesInstead of going after experienced candidates with a successful track record and seeking to bring in outside voices, the Nashville Predators are once again opting to hire one of their "buddies."
It's fun to remember what these players and coaches did for your organization back then, but trying to zombify that moment and duplicate its success now isn't going to work.
Take out the fact that he had played for the Predators, and Fitzgerald's candidacy for this committee is not impressive.
This search committee needs to take off its golden-shaded goggles and find a GM who will bring real change and new ideas to this organization.
The Predators need a GM who is established and has a track record of winning, and, in their case, an assistant GM who has a track record of building a championship-contending team.
No more former coaches. No more former players. Hire on the basis of proven success and how they can bring a Stanley Cup to Music City.