Nashville Predators Find Another Assistant to Help Front Office
President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chris MacFarland has found another assistant to help him run the Nashville Predators.
Per a press release from the organization, MacFarland announced the hiring of Vukie Mpofu for the assistant general manager job. Mpofu will help MacFarland with everything related to the hockey operations department, player acquisition strategy, salary cap, contract negotiations and a role in player scouting.
“We are very pleased that Vukie has elected to join the Predators hockey operations staff as Assistant General Manager,” MacFarland said. “He is one of the great young minds in the game today, and we are confident he’ll be a great fit with the rest of our management team as we look to build a winning franchise in Nashville. We would also like to thank Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins organization for working with us in our pursuit of Vukie for this important role within our organization.”
Mpofu comes to Nashville after spending the past three seasons in the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was the director of hockey operations and legal affairs for the franchise. He helped with player contract negotiations and salary cap compliance.
Before that, he was the manager of hockey operations and legal affairs for the Los Angeles Kings. There, he worked with former Kings general manager and current Predators Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Rob Blake from 2021-2023.
"My wife and I are thrilled to join the Predators organization, and I want to thank Chris MacFarland for his trust and belief in me,” Mpofu said. “The Predators are a world-class franchise with a promising future, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help shape the next chapter here in Nashville. I look forward to working alongside two of the game's best leaders in Chris and Rob Blake, and thank Mr. Haslam for entrusting me to be part of the management team they are assembling."
Mpofu is yet another addition that MacFarland has made to his front office staff to help him rebuild the Nashville Predators. In addition to Blake, MacFarland has also hired Jamie Langenbrunner from the Boston Bruins to be Nashville’s special assistant to the general manager and Dawson Sprigings as the assistant to the general manager.
MacFarland is in the middle of his first offseason rebuilding the Predators. Despite not being hired until June 2, MacFarland made it to Nashville in time for the 2026 NHL Draft and free agency. MacFarland is hoping the hires he has made will pay off with an improved Predators team next season.
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Graham Baakko writes for both Nashville Predators On SI and Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as an intern for GamecockCentral.