NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville General Manager David Poile thought he made the key moves to win the Stanley Cup. With the Predators struggling to keep pace in the playoff chase, he fired coach Peter Laviolette on Monday despite winning a Presidents’ Trophy and back-to-back Central Division titles.
Assistant coach Kevin McCarthy also was dismissed. The Predators (19-15-7) have dropped four of five heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Bruins. They are 11th in the Western Conference standings with 45 points.
There was no word on a replacement for either coach, but the Predators scheduled a news conference for Tuesday morning. Poile praised their work in a release.
“Under the leadership of Peter and Kevin, our organization reached unprecedented heights – from our franchise-altering run to the Stanley Cup final to a Presidents’ Trophy and our first two Central Division titles,” he said. “Their passion for the game, ability to motivate a team and drive to be the best makes this a difficult decision.”
The 55-year-old Laviolette went 248-143-60 in 51/2 seasons with Nashville, reaching the playoffs each of his first five seasons. The Predators lost to Pittsburgh in six games in the 2017 Stanley Cup final. They won the Presidents’ Trophy and made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2018. They were eliminated in the first round a year ago.
Poile traded away defenseman P.K. Subban, Nashville’s highest-paid player, and signed free-agent forward Matt Duchene to a $56 million, seven-year contract on July 1. But the Predators sputtered through the first half of this season. They hadn’t won more than two straight games since a four-game streak in late October.
This is the sixth NHL coaching change of the season.
Laviolette was just the second coach in Predators history. Barry Trotz was behind the bench for the organization’s first 15 seasons, with Nashville simply allowing his contract to expire.
Before coming to Nashville, Laviolette coached the New York Islanders (2001-03), Carolina Hurricanes (2003-09) and Philadelphia Flyers (2009-14). He has 637 wins over 18 years as an NHL coach.
He coached the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup championship in 2006 and reached the Stanley Cup final with Philadelphia in 2010.
MONDAY’S GAMES
ISLANDERS 1, AVALANCHE 0: Semyon Varlamov stopped 32 shots against his former team for his second shutout of the season, Anders Lee scored and New York beat Colorado in Uniondale, New York.
The Islanders had lost two straight overall and four in a row at the Nassau Coliseum.
JETS 3, CANADIENS 2: Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, and Winnipeg in Montreal.
Andrew Copp and Josh Morrissey also scored for Winnipeg, which had dropped five of six. Captain Blake Wheeler had two assists, and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves.
OILERS 6, MAPLE LEAFS 4: Connor McDavid scored a highlight-reel goal and added three assists as Edmonton snapped Toronto’s point streak at 10 games with a victory in Toronto.
Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, Kailer Yamamoto, Alex Chiasson and Leon Draisaitl also scored for the Oilers (22-17-5), who were making their third stop on a five-game road trip.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
