Barry Trotz, the NHL's longest tenured head coach with one team, will not be back for a 16th season with the Nashville Predators.

The Predators announced Monday they have told Trotz his contract will not be renewed and that they are starting a search for a new coach immediately.

Trotz has been the only coach for this former expansion franchise, and he coached 1,196 games with Nashville. That puts him second only to Greg Popovich of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs for longest active coaching tenure in the four major sports.

He is the only NHL coach to take his team to the playoffs in seven of eight seasons before missing the playoffs the past two seasons. Trotz has been offered a position in the team's hockey operations department.

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