Nashville Predators Hire New Front Office Executive to Help General Manager
The Nashville Predators' build to improvement continued Friday with the hiring of another front office executive.
Per a media release, the Predators have hired Rob Blake as the franchise’s next executive vice president of hockey operations. Blake will work alongside new general manager and president of hockey operations Chris MacFarland.
The two will collaborate on "team and staff development, strategies for the long and short-terms, free agency, draft strategy and player recruitment," according to the release.
“We are ecstatic to welcome Rob Blake to the Nashville Predators as our executive vice president of hockey operations,” MacFarland said. “Rob is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and a legend of our game. Additionally, he brings a wealth of knowledge in management and I will rely on him to assist me in many areas across the department as we look to build a winning team in Smashville. I couldn’t think of a better person to join me and the organization on this journey.”
Blake comes to Nashville after spending time with the Los Angeles Kings. With Los Angeles, Blake was the assistant general manager in 2014 when the Kings won the Stanley Cup and has since served as the general manager and vice president of hockey operations for the franchise.
Though they have not won a title since 2014, the Kings have been a consistent playoff throughout this decade. Los Angeles has made the playoffs the last five seasons. The most notable roster moves Blake made with the Kings was acquiring Kevin Fiala in a 2017 trade and drafting Quinton Byfield in 2020.
“This is an organization with a great history and a very bright future, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. I am grateful to work with Chris, who is one of the best general managers in today’s game, and build something special here in Nashville,” Blake said.
The hiring of Blake comes just a few days after the Predators hired Chris MacFarland as the team’s general manager and president of hockey operations. He is the third general manager in the franchise’s history and the second president of hockey operations. Blake fills in a role that has been vacant.
The hirings Nashville has made this week proves to its fanbase that it is serious about getting back to being a team that is competing for Stanley Cups. The hirings also set up what should be quite the offseason for the Predators. With Nashville’s front office guys in place before the NHL Draft and free agency, there would be good reason to believe that MacFarland and Blake will do what they can to construct the best roster.
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Graham Baakko is a lead writer 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.