Barry Trotz makes his first move as Preds GM and fans are not happy

This just in from NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the Nashville Predators have reportedly fired head coach John Hynes this morning and have replaced him with Andrew Brunette.

Hynes' future with the team had been up in the air for weeks now, but new Predators GM Barry Trotz had yet to make a decision on whether or not Hynes would be back. Frankly, there were many in the hockey world who felt that Trotz has mishandled the situation and didn't give Hynes the common courtesy of letting him know where he stood. Today's news ends all that.

Hynes had been the Predators' head coach for the past three seasons and failed to make the playoffs this past season. Predators fans have mostly made it clear that they were not happy with Hynes' coaching decisions so I don't think there will be too many tears shed for Hynes fate today, but... this is still no way to treat a person. Here's hoping that Trotz addresses the elephant in the room when he finally meets with the media.

As for Brunette, he's a fantastic pick up for this team. The former NHL player has bounced around the NHL coaching ranks the past few seasons and spent the 2022-23 season with the New Jersey Devils. He, of course, took over head coaching duties for Joel Quenneville with the Florida Panthers last season and earned himself a Jack Adams Award nomination as the NHL's top head coach.

Brunette will now take over a Predators' team that's in a bit of a transition. Veterans like Roman Josi, Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Tyson Barrie and Ryan Johansen are likely looking to take a run at the Stanley Cup, but Brunette and Trotz desperately need to support these veterans with some young talent. With Juuse Saros in goal the Predators have a chance to win every game they play, but they'll need the likes of Thomas Novak, Cody Glass, Dante Fabbro and Cal Foote to take the next step and give this team some much needed depth moving forward.

More to come on this developing story.