Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette missed the team’s Saturday practice due to family matters, and is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. Assistant coach Todd Richards ran Saturday’s practice in Brunette’s absence and will be in line to man the bench should Brunette need to miss another day.
Richards has been in an assistant coach role for the last nine seasons, splitting time between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators. Before that, he served as the head of the Columbus Blue Jackets for parts of five seasons – starting his tenure as a midseason replacement for Scott Arniel in 2012. Richards led Columbus to three winning seasons, though they missed the playoffs in all but one year – and lost in the first round in the other year – of his reign. He was replaced by infamous Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella in 2016. Richards also served two seasons as the Minnesota Wild head coach from 2009 to 2011; and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a loss in the Calder Cup Championship Final in 2008. His career head coaching record at the NHL level sits at 204-183-37, or a win percentage of 0.481.
A new voice at the helm could be aptly timed for the Predators. They’re in the midst of a five-game losing streak and have a dismal 8-13-1 record since the Four Nations Face-Off Break – seventh-worst in the NHL. Brunette led the Predators to a first-round exit in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but will miss the postseason by a large step this year. His .408 win percentage on the year is the second-lowest in Predators history, behind their 28-47-7 campaign in 1998-99.