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John Hynes Named New Nashville Predators Head Coach

The Nashville Predators announced on Tuesday morning the hiring of John Hynes as their new head coach.

John Hynes Named New Head Coach

A day after Peter Laviolette was fired, Hynes takes over the head coaching duties for the Predators. Hynes will be the third coach in franchise history behind Laviolette and Barry Trotz. This is the sixth coaching change of the 2019-20 season.

Earlier this season, Hynes was fired by the New Jersey Devils, after a rocky start to the season. Hynes departed the Devils coaching the team to a record of 150-159-45 in 354 career regular-season games. That is a winning percentage of .487. Hynes was in the first year of a new multi-year contract he signed back in January of 2019. Now he departs after four-plus seasons with the team leading them to one Stanely Cup Playoffs appearance in 2018.

What Lies Ahead

With the coaching change now happening in Nashville, it is now on the players to perform. While many do not believe general manager David Poile is on the hot seat, his decisions in the revamp this team down the middle are starting to be questioned. Bringing in Matt Duchene was supposed to put the Predators over the top. Already with Ryan Johansen and Kyle Turris, the Predators had strong depth down the middle. Not to mention Nick Bonino has been solid in his role. However, the top three centers have been really underperforming this season. Looking back was giving up an All-Star defenceman Seth Jones to Columbus the right play?

Now, it will be interesting to see how this team responds to Hynes’s play. There will be an immediate effect of course with a new message in the room. However, Hynes will need his top players to perform at a higher rate if they want to salvage the season. Not to mention, his goalies Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros will also need to be better. Hynes has the ability to get the best of his players and they win to show it Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins.

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Jim Biringer

Jim Biringer

Jim is a 2008 graduate of Saint Michaels College who is currently writing about the NHL for Last Word on Hockey. His work includes writing about the New Jersey Devils as well as NHL Notebooks for the Metro and Central Division. Jim has a passion for the game of hockey. As one coach put it "he is the student of the game." When Jim is not writing he can be found at the local rinks playing or being a referee. Throughout his time in the game, Jim continues to coach a local high school team. In addition, he broadcasted several New Jersey Junior Rockets games for the Eastern Hockey League. Reach him on Twitter: @JimBiringer

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