Following the 2017-18 season, David Poile became the longest-tenured general manager in NHL history, having served 36 consecutive seasons as a GM, including 21 with Nashville Predators and 15 with Washington Capitals. He is the only general manager to lead two separate clubs for 1,000 games and 500 wins and became the winningest GM in NHL history with his 1,320th victory during the 2017-18 campaign. 

A four-time finalist and winner in 2017 of the NHL’s General Manager of the Year Award, Poile has guided the Predators to the Stanley Cup playoffs in four straight seasons and 11 of the past 14 campaigns, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016-17. During his 15 years in Washington, the Capitals made the playoffs 14 times. 

In 2005, Poile was selected as one of four NHL general managers for the first NHL Competition Committee. He would use this role to help usher in a new era of NHL hockey with innovations such as the regular-season shootout and elimination of the red line. He was also instrumental in the league’s adoption of the instant replay rule in 1991. Poile was recognized by The Sporting News as Executive of the Year on three occasions (1982-83, 1983-84 and 2006-07).

An original member of the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group formed in 2007, Poile continues to play a pivotal role in assisting USA Hockey with the selection of players and staff for U.S. Men’s National Teams, including the Olympic Team.

He served as the general manager of the 2014 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team and was the associate general manager for the U.S. squad that took home the silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. He also helped assemble the U.S. Men’s National Team that captured the bronze medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation Men’s World Championship in 2013, the third medal for the U.S. at the tournament since 1962. He served as the general manager of the U.S. Men’s National Team in 1998 and 1999 and as associate general manager in 2009 and 2010. 

A 1971 graduate of Northeastern University in Boston, Poile is a member of the school’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame. He was the captain of the Huskies’ men’s ice hockey team, leading scorer and most valuable player for two of his three seasons. In 2001, he received the Lester Patrick Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to hockey in the United States.