Jonathan Marchessault Hints That Predators Players are Starting to Turn Against Head Coach Andrew Brunette
Nashville Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault made a questionable comment today about head coach Andrew Brunette.
The comment comes in the middle of a crisis for the team. Last night, they dropped their 6th contest in a row with a shutout loss against the 30th-place Canadiens.
Marchessault is clearly not happy with the way things are going for the team, but his anger seems to stem not just from the on-ice results, but also from his coach.
Ahead of tonight's game against the Ottawa Senators, Marchessault commented that he never knows who is going to be on his line, implying Brunette is keeping his players out of the loop when it comes to lineup decisions.
Marchessault is not the only one to express frustration with the team's head coach.
Predators fans are clearly upset with the way Brunette has handled the team this year.
In a poll on X, over 60% of respondents reported that they strongly disapprove of the job Brunette has done this season.
Another 27% say they somewhat disapprove of the bench boss, while just 10% of fans say they approve of the job he's done in any capacity.
Honestly, the writing already feels like it is on the wall for Brunette. Several fans have pointed this out.
The team is currently playing in Ottawa tonight where the score is 0-0 through the first frame.
If the team drops that one, it would be seven in a row.
At this point, the season is already essentially lost. We are well past American Thanksgiving and the Predators sit in 31st place.
The team would need a major miracle to crawl back into a playoff position, but not every team can be the 2019 St. Louis Blues.
That team was an exception to the rules. The Preds would have to do a lot more than string a few wins together to salvage the season, so they might as well hit restart now with a change behind the bench.
At least that should energize the players to put in their best effort for a few games.
| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 7 | 125 ANSWERS Jonathan Marchessault Hints That Predators Players are Starting to Turn Against Head Coach Andrew Brunette Do you think the Nashville Predators will fire Andrew Brunette this month? | ||
| Yes | 67 | 53.6 % |
| No, but they will fire him this season | 49 | 39.2 % |
| They will not fire him at all this season | 9 | 7.2 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Drake Batherson | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Adam Fox | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Owen Power | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brady Tkachuk | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Noah Gregor | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Reilly Smith | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mika Zibanejad | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Sam Carrick | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Jensen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Peyton Krebs | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mason McTavish | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Zack Ostapchuk | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Artemi Panarin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John-Jason Peterka | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Sanderson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Wild | 28 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 42 | |
Jets | 30 | 21 | 9 | - | 42 | |
Capitals | 27 | 19 | 6 | 2 | 40 | |
Golden Knights | 28 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 39 | |
Devils | 31 | 18 | 10 | 3 | 39 | |
Panthers | 29 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 38 | |
Hurricanes | 28 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 37 | |
Kings | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 37 | |
Maple Leafs | 28 | 17 | 9 | 2 | 36 | |
Stars | 27 | 17 | 10 | - | 34 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||