Nashville Predators general manager David Poile — the winningest GM in NHL history and Nashville's only GM to date — is retiring after 26 seasons with the club, sources told ESPN Sunday, confirming earlier reports.
That move will be effective June 30. Poile, who also held the title of president of hockey operations, is expected to remain with the franchise in a consulting role.
Barry Trotz, the first coach in Predators' history, is set to take over for Poile officially in June, but will join the team immediately as an advisor in preparation for the eventual shift.
Poile, 73, spent 15 seasons as GM of the Washington Capitals before joining the Predators in 1997, when Nashville arrived in the NHL as an expansion franchise. His Predators' teams have reached the playoffs in 15 of the last 18 years. Nashville is currently eight points out of a postseason spot though and headed towards a transitional phase, open to selling assets ahead of the Friday's trade deadline while charting the organization's next step.
Nevertheless, Poile had a strong run over his seasons in Nashville (including a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2017), and he remains the only GM in league history to lead two separate franchises (the Predators and Capitals) for over 1,000 games while earning 500 wins.
Trotz coached Nashville from 1998-2014 and remains the winningest coach in team history with 557 wins. He then moved on to Washington for four seasons, during which Trotz won a Jack Adams Award, as the league's top coach, in 2015-16, and the franchise's only Stanley Cup in 2018.
Trotz left Washington for the New York Islanders ahead of the 2018-19 season, and he took that club to back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup semifinals. He was relieved of
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