Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz confirmed coach Andrew Brunette will return for the 2025-26 season.

“Andrew (Brunette) is going to be our coach,” Trotz told reporters at Bridgestone Arena on May 5.

The news comes after a disappointing 30-44-8 record and a seventh-place finish in the Central Division. After the season ended for the Predators, at least one player expressed a desire to make changes with the offensive philosophy.

But after making his own evaluations, Trotz believes Brunette is still the person for the job.

“(Brunette) is a good young coach. He had a tough situation this year,” Trotz said. “But like a good young player, you have to stick with a good young coach.”

Trotz added Brunette still has “tools he needs to add to his tool belt” in terms of his coaching style, but that he saw enough to know Brunette can come up with solutions to resolve the Predators’ issues.

Trotz said assistant coaches Todd Richards, Derek MacKenzie and Darby Hendrickson will return, though he is willing to keep his options open.

Brunette, 51, was hired by the Predators in May 2023 when the team moved on from John Hynes. Trotz made the hire as his first major move as general manager.

In his first season, Brunette was 47-30-5 and a finalist for the 2024 Jack Adams Award, given annually to the league’s coach of the year.

But in his second season, he could not fix the Predators’ dismal offense. Despite the team’s offseason upgrades with Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, Nashville ranked 31st in goals per game (2.59) and was at or near the bottom of the Western Conference for most of the season.

Seen as an offensive-minded coach, Brunette’s inability to improve the Predators’ scoring, and Trotz not meeting with the media soon after their season ended, raised questions as to whether the coach would return for a third season.

Brunette, who scored the first goal in franchise history, also coached the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, guiding them to their first ever Presidents’ Trophy. He left to become an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils before being hired by the Predators.

Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex atjdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.