BRUNETTE
Andrew

• 1. Coaching career

Andrew D. Brunette is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the head coach for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). As a player, Brunette played over 1,100 career games in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, and Chicago Blackhawks between 1996 and 2012. He previously served as interim head coach for the Florida Panthers, as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils, and as the Wild's assistant general manager.

Coaching career

Brunette was an assistant coach of the Minnesota Wild for two seasons from the 2014–15 season and served as the Wild's assistant general manager until the conclusion of the 2018–19 season.[citation needed] On June 4, 2019, he joined the Florida Panthers as an assistant coach on head coach Joel Quenneville's staff. On October 29, 2021, Brunette was named the interim head coach of the Panthers after head coach Quenneville resigned on October 28.

Following the Panthers getting swept by the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, there was much uncertainty about Brunette's future as head coach. On June 22, 2022, the Panthers announced that Paul Maurice would be the next head coach of the franchise. Brunette was offered a significant position within the organization, but ultimately decided to leave for an assistant position with the New Jersey Devils.

After one season in New Jersey, Brunette was named head coach of the Nashville Predators, whom he had previously played for, on May 31, 2023.