Potential Candidates to be the Next Nashville Predators General Manager
It’s been over three months since Barry Trotz announced his retirement from the Nashville Predators, while staying in place until his successor is hired. Since then, a long and arduous process has ensued as the Preds look to find his replacement.
As the search continues to drag on, fans are left to wonder what prospects Nashville has its eyes on. Are the Predators holding out for someone whose team is still in the playoffs? Are they doing extensive due diligence to make sure they have the right person?
The NHL Draft is just over a month away, and free agency opens about a week after that, so who will be making all of the decisions?
The team has put an emphasis on general manager or assistant experience, which shrinks the candidate pool a bit. Vancouver assistant general manager Ryan Johnson was said to be heavily in play for Nashville, but he was just promoted to the head job for the Canucks, narrowing the market even further.
With that being said, who are the real candidates that could stabilize the Predators moving forward?
Tom Fitzgerald, former GM, New Jersey Devils
Fitzgerald seems to be the frontrunner for this job by many reports. In his playing days, he was the first ever captain of the Preds, and has since moved into front office work since 2007, when he began as director of player development for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2009, he became Pittsburgh’s assistant general manager before moving into the same role with New Jersey in 2015. He was named interim general manager for the Devils in 2020 before earning the full-time title a few months later.
Last month, he was fired from New Jersey as the Devils missed the playoffs, finishing 13th in the East with 87 points.
For an organization that often hires its own alumni, such as Trotz as general manager and Andrew Brunette as a former player turned coach, there seems to be a heavy interest in Fitzgerald. But he has a reputation of doing what the Preds are guilty of: favoring veteran players over developing pieces, even to the tune of putting the team in a salary cap bind.
New Jersey made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2023 before losing for Carolina. Though it missed the playoffs in 2024, Fitzgerald retooled the roster with pieces like Jacob Markstrom, Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon, just to return to the postseason in 2025 and lose to Caolina again.
Fitzgerald was able to lay a foundation in New Jersey but couldn’t quite take it to the next level. Working with a few others in the front office to find a way to do so could make Fitzgerald a good front office fit for Nashville, but that remains to be seen.
Brett Peterson, assistant GM, Florida Panthers
Peterson has been Florida’s assistant general manager since 2020, winning two Stanley Cups and one President’s Trophy as a prominent voice in the Panthers’ front office. He also served as Team USA’s general manager over the last three years during the world championships.
He’s a well-rounded executive, heavily involved in both transactions and evaluations, along with examining the roster and assessing needs.
Peterson is also seen as a great mix between old-school general manager styles and a newer, more collaborative, analytical and cap-smart approach. Given his success coming from a winning organization in Florida, if Nashville can make a hire more foreign to its way of doing things, Peterson would fit the role incredibly well.
Bill Scott, assistant GM, Edmonton Oilers
An assistant general manager with the Edmonton Oilers since 2014, Scott has gained a reputation as a salary cap guru, even working as the team’s representative during the most recent collective bargaining negotiations. He has also been with Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, as general manager since 2015.
As Nashville will attempt to sign draft picks and navigate free agency with $14.3 million in cap space, someone like Scott working alongside a hockey schematics brain would be a phenomenal fit for the Preds.
Whether they’re looking for just one person to fill all the duties remains to be unknown. If they are, Scott may not be the right choice. But if they want to build a team of a few executives to collaborate on all decisions, Scott certainly fits into that mix.
Darren Yorke, assistant GM, Carolina Hurricanes
Yorke is a guy in a similar boat. He’s worked his way up through the organization in Carolina, starting out as a video scout before becoming the special assistant to the general manager, the director of scouting, the director of player personnel and finally assistant general manager.
The Hurricanes have not been shy about how much their draft process flows through Yorke, and in a vital draft for the future of the Predators, having someone like Yorke who can nail a few picks and help them develop into long-term solutions would be important.
But on the surface, it appears he’s never led a coaching search, made salary-cap decisions or constructed trades.
When it comes to drafting and developing players instead of leaning on free agency, Yorke could stabilize that avenue, but he’d also need some help when it came to the rest of building a contender.
Jeff Kealty, assistant GM and director of scouting, Nashville Predators
Kealty is confirmed to have interviewed for the job, according to Alex Daughtery of the Tennessean. He’s been with the organization since 2001, starting as an amateur scout before being promoted to director or amateur scouting in 2007, and then earning his current role in 2018.
As a staunch defender of building through the draft, Kealty has shown a knack for finding gems outside of the first round, headlined by Roman Josi and Juuse Saros. His first-round choices are hit or miss, but that can be par for the course sometimes.
Ultimately, this comes down to whether Nashville wants to change its philosophy on hiring. If the Predators want to keep it among alumni or internal hires, Fitzgerald or Kealty will get the gig. If they want to go for an outside candidate, look for one of these other executives to be heavily in the mix.
Matt St. Charles is an intern for Nashville Predators On SI and Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He got his start covering Chattanooga sports before starting a Southern Conference basketball podcast in his time as an undergraduate. He's written previews in the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook since 2023, covered Indiana basketball and football during the 2025-26 seasons, and wrote stories from the Final Four in 2026 for his graduate studies at IU Indianapolis. The Nashville native loves feature writing and chasing human stories in sports at any level.