For 16 years (since 1998) Barry Trotz has been the coach of Nashville Predators. The NHL’s longest-tenured coach with the same organization, and the franchise’s only coach to date, did not have his contract renewed today after a second-straight season finishing outside the playoffs. Nashville went 38-32-12 this season.

The move, though not shocking considering the disappointment of the previous two seasons, signals a change in direction of the Predators, who have worked seamlessly with their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee and its coaching staff, to develop home-grown players, including the likes of Shea Weber, Patric Hornqvist, Roman Josi, Colin Wilson, Nick Spaling, Ryan Ellis and Gabriel Bourque, seven of the team’s top 10 scorers, along with star goaltender Pekka Rinne. Rookie Seth Jones and Craig Smith were also drafted by the club.

Predators General Manager David Poile was quoted in the team’s statement released today:

“Our organization has high expectations and we have not met them in the past two seasons. As a result, it is my decision and determination that we need a new voice and a new direction. Our change in direction began over a year ago as we have made several personnel changes, including trading of long-time veteran players and a change to our coaching staff last offseason. Our goal is to return to the playoffs with the ultimate goal of contending for the Stanley Cup. We know that once we get into the playoffs, anything is possible.

“I also want to thank Barry for everything he has done for our franchise. He has been the face and voice of our team for 15 years. He created, developed and lived The Predator Way – on the ice, in the office and in the community. There could be no finer ambassador for the Predators or Nashville than Barry Trotz. He has laid a foundation and culture that will benefit the next coach of the Nashville Predators.”

Though it is a bit early to speculate on who will replace Trotz, who has been offered a position within the organization (Trotz will likely be a top choice of other teams looking for a new coach after Black Monday), a couple of obvious in-house candidates would be current Predators assistant coaches Lane Lambert and Phil Housley, plus current Admirals coach Dean Evason. Two others with strong ties to the organization would be current Florida Panthers interim coach Peter Horachek and current Carolina Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller, who might be out of job with the regime change occurring in Raleigh. Former Admirals coach Claude Noel, who was fired this season by Winnipeg, is also available, as is former Philadelphia Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, who has some connections to Poile via USA Hockey.

Trotz finishes his 15-year coaching career with Nashville with a record of 557-479-100 + 60 ties. After missing the playoffs the first five seasons, the Predators under Trotz were playoff bound in six of the next seven seasons before sliding back to 16-23-9 last year.

So Roundtable . . . What do you think of the big news today out of Nashville? Are more changes within the organization upcoming?

Scott Darling completed his sixth shutout of the season yesterday. He is now tied with Jake Allen for the AHL lead in that department. There is just one thing about that which really leaps out when you think about it. Games Played: Allen, 51. Darling, 25.

In fact, if it weren’t for him lacking games and minutes played, he would be right up there in most major goaltending categories. Darling has a 1.82 goals against average (GAA). The current top three in the AHL: Jake Allen,  2.07 GAA… Petr Mrazek, 2.07 GAA… Tom McCollum, 2.28 GAA. Darling has a 0.938 save percentage (SV%). The current top three in the AHL: Jake Allen, 0.927 SV%… Petr Mrazek, 0.925 SV%… Joni Ortio, 0.924 SV%.

When this season comes to an end – so will Darling’s contract. I have no doubt that he has earned himself an AHL contract next season and, if the right situation presents itself, even possibly a two-way NHL contract. It is that very same thought that should trickle into the Nashville Predators organization when it comes to another netminder whose contract is up this season: Carter Hutton.

Hutton, like current Admiral Joe Pendenza, was a product of UMass-Lowell. In his time there he played for four seasons, played 85 games, had a 2.36 GAA, 0.911 SV%, and 10 shutouts.

He was never drafted by an NHL team so he made the team by team approach: 2009-10, Adirondack Phantoms – AHL (4 games)… 2010-11, Worcester Sharks – AHL (22 games)… 2011-12, Rockford IceHogs – AHL (43 games), Toledo Walleye – ECHL (14 games)… 2012-13, Rockford IceHogs – AHL (51 games), Chicago Blackhawks – NHL (1 game).

It was this season when Hutton truly broke out. He entered Nashville camp, won the back-up job, and stood up to the challenge of being the Predators starter when Pekka Rinne suffered his set back from off-season hip surgery. This season Hutton played in 40 games, won 20 games, has a 2.62 GAA, 0.910 SV%, and one shutout.

In a situation where he could have easily been seen as in over his head – he took the opportunity to perform at the NHL level and shined.

Sound familiar?

Darling was meant to be our goaltender for the Cincinnati Cyclones this season. When Rinne went down – it wasn’t just Hutton being given the chance to shine because all goalies suddenly took one step up on the system ladder. Magnus Hellberg up – then down. Marek Mazanec up – then down. Darling up – and he pretty much has remained up for the entire season.

Back when all this shuffling around took place, right around November and December, Darling was pushing Hellberg for starts in net. It was the hot hand that was rewarded with more starts. And Darling, playing more AHL games than he ever had before, was earning CCM/AHL awards for Player of the Week and Goalie of the Month. Since returning from a lower-body injury he has shown no ill-signs that the first half of the season was a fluke. He and Mazanec have been pushing each other all the way up until the finish line of the AHL regular season.

There are some real pressing questions for the organization that should come at season’s end: Is re-signing Hutton going to be an option? Will Hutton prove to be too costly as an NHL back up? If Hutton leaves in free agency – do the Predators seek an option outside of their own system? If they stay in system – are Hellberg or Mazanec really prepared or polished enough for NHL duty? And, in a similar mold to Hutton when they came across him last off-season, is Darling worth bringing to camp with a chance at being Rinne’s back up?

Those are all legitimate questions that are going to need to be asked and addressed by the Predators this off-season. How would you answer them?

This afternoon the AHL announced this season’s recipient for the Fred T. Hunt Award – given to the player who best exemplifies qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey. Yet again, it is a member of the Admirals own Midwest Division: the Iowa Wild’s captain and former Wisconsin Badger Jake Dowell.

Per the AHL’s release:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League announced today that Jake Dowell of the Iowa Wild has been named the 2013-14 winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.

The award is voted on by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 30 cities.

Dowell has served as captain of the Wild during the team’s first season in Iowa while also dealing with personal tragedy. Dowell’s father, John, passed away in February after a lengthy battle with Huntington’s disease, a debilitating genetic neurological disorder which also affects his older brother, Luke. Dowell’s openness about his family’s fight with Huntington’s disease and his advocacy for a cure has brought national awareness to the cause, while Dowell and his Wild teammates have taken part in charity drives and fundraisers for research.

A native of Eau Claire, Wis., Dowell has remained a leader on the ice in Des Moines throughout his trying season, appearing in 54 games with Iowa as well as one with the Wild’s NHL affiliate in Minnesota, with whom he is currently on recall. The seventh-year pro out of the University of Wisconsin has played 157 career games in the NHL with Chicago, Dallas and Minnesota, along with 302 career AHL contests with Iowa, Houston, Rockford and Norfolk. He was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in 2004.

This award, which was first presented by the AHL in 1978, honors the late Fred T. Hunt, a long-time contributor to the league who won three Calder Cup championships as a player and three more as a general manager during a career spent primarily with the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. Previous winners of the award include Ross Yates (1983), Glenn Merkosky (1987, ’91), Bruce Boudreau (1988), Murray Eaves (’89, ’90), John Anderson (1992), Tim Tookey (1993), Ken Gernander (1996, 2004), Randy Cunneyworth (2000), Mike Keane (2007), Ajay Baines (2009), Casey Borer (2010), Bryan Helmer (2011), Chris Minard (2012) and Brandon Davidson (2013).

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The 2013-14 regular season ends on Apr. 19, and then 16 clubs will continue to vie for the league’s coveted championship trophy when the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs get underway.

The next AHL award will be announced on Monday and will be the Dudley “Red” Garrett Award for outstanding rookie.

Today the Milwaukee Admirals unveiled a snazy new website. I’m proud to have one of the first articles to be displayed, a feature story on Mark Van Guilder’s recall to Nashville and the work he’s put in for six years to get to that point.

Here are a couple of snippets from MVG in the piece:

“I never really thought that yeah I’m going to play in the NHL. It was always a dream of mine, but until last year, it really was just a dream. It wasn’t really until the end of last season that I realized that this really was so close.”

“I felt so far away that whole season in the Coast. Playing in the NHL did not even seem like a possibility. It’s been a very slow climb to get from there (to now).”

“I think almost every guy that I had played with on the team had either talked to me or texted me congratulations before I even got there. When I walked in Gabriel Bourque gave me a big hug, and of all of the guys were just so excited for me. They told me I had earned it, so it was pretty special.”

“I think my story might help guys around here that are struggling a little bit, are not happy with the ice time they are getting or are dealing with going up and down from Cincinnati. If you stick with it and just keep working, eventually good things will happen.”

You can view the full story, including quotes from Lane Lambert, Paul Fenton, Dean Evason, Colton Sissons, Scott Ford and Shea Weber right here. Thanks to Daniel Lavender for some of soundbites used in this piece.