Nashville Predators' Barry Trotz discusses John Hynes' job status: 'I'm going to evaluate it'
Incoming Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz used a lot of complimentary words to describe his impression of coach John Hynes.
But Trotz, who will take over for the retiring David Poile this summer, stopped short of committing to Hynes as the team's coach next season.
"John has a contract," Trotz said Monday, with Hynes situated two seats to his left during the team's end-of-season press availability. "This will be a process. I'm going to evaluate it from the players to the staff to John. We're going to talk about his plan for next year and go from there. You have to respect the process."
Trotz added that he was evaluated the same way when he was a coach under outgoing general manager David Poile in Nashville. Trotz said earlier Monday that he and Hynes "get along great," and that Hynes "has a great personality," referring to them both as "hockey nerds." He also said Hynes is a "very well-prepared coach."
Hynes, who has one year remaining on his contract, returned the compliments to Trotz, saying he's learned a lot from the former coach during their few months together since the announcement was made in February that Trotz would take over for Poile after this year's NHL Draft, which will be held in Nashville.
But Hynes, too, stopped short of discussing what might be in store for next season in terms of his job.
"I didn't have any control over David's decision (to hire Trotz)," Hynes said. "I'm very happy he's made that decision for himself and the organization. ... Then when Barry comes in, he's got to make his assessments on what he feels is going to be best moving forward, but I don't have any control over that.
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"What I can do is welcome him and and try to pick his brain ... create a relationship and trust in that. If you work hard and try to do the right things, then good things will happen."
Trotz said Hynes and his staff did a "terrific job" this season, especially after the trade deadline and with the number of injuries to key players that stripped the roster of a lot of experience.
Hynes is 134-95-18 in three-plus seasons as the Predators coach. He guided the team to the playoffs during his first three seasons. The Predators' streak of postseason appearances ended at eight this year, when the team finished 42-32-8, three points behind the Winnipeg Jets, who won the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Their 92 points is the most in franchise history for a non-playoff team.
Nashville fought for a playoff spot in spite of a rash of injuries and being sellers at the trade deadline.
"John has done a terrific job on what's been a little bit of a teardown," Trotz said. "We've had a good relationship. He's a well-prepared coach. He's trying all the time to grow."
Filip Forsberg (concussion), Ryan Johansen (tendons), Matt Duchene (finger), Juuso Parssinen, Roman Josi (concussion), Alexandre Carrier (shoulder/collar bone), Jeremy Lauzon (concussion) and Mark Borowiecki all missed significant time. Mattias Ekholm, Nino Niederreiter, Tanner Jeannot and Mikael Granlund also were dealt before the trade deadline.
Hynes took over for Peter Laviolette in January 2020. Two months later, the COVID-19 virus began to spread, wiping out the rest of that regular season.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators' Barry Trotz to 'evaluate' John Hynes' job status
