Predators’ Jeff Kealty named GM of USA’s 2025 Men’s World Championship team

Credit: Steven Ellis/The Nation Network

USA Hockey announced Friday that Jeff Kealty of the Nashville Predators will serve as its general manager for the upcoming 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship.

“[Kealty’s] experience, particularly related to his knowledge of the player pool, will be a big benefit in leading our efforts in building a team that can compete for a gold medal,” John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of hockey operations for USA Hockey, said in a statement.

A longtime hockey operations executive in Nashville, Kealty currently serves as the Predators’ assistant general manager and director of scouting, titles he has held for the past seven seasons.

Previously, Kealty led the Predators’ amateur scouting department from 2007-18, an 11-year stretch that saw the club make a bevy of savvy selections, including Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Seth Jones, Juuse Saros, and Kevin Fiala. Currently serving as captain of the Predators, Josi has spent his entire career in Nashville, counting 949 total appearances in which he has registered 189 goals with 527 assists for 716 points to rank first in all-time scoring for the franchise. For Kealty, his resume also includes six seasons as an amateur scout prior to his promotion to head the department.

A graduate of the NCAA’s Boston University Terriers, Kealty’s playing days at the collegiate level were highlighted by three consecutive regular season championships from 1996-98. Kealty later joined the Milwaukee Admirals, the Predators’ top minor-league affiliate, for part of two seasons. Kealty was chosen by the former Quebec Nordiques with the 22nd overall selection in the 1994 NHL Draft.

Heading toward the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship to be held in May in Denmark and Sweden, the American squad will look to claim its 21st medal in tournament history. In all, Team USA has taken home the gold medal on two occasions, counting first-place finishes in 1933 and 1960, in addition to nine silver medals as well as nine bronze-medal wins.