Nashville Predators Add Executive with Sports Law Background to Front Office

The Nashville Predators have hired Vukie Mpofu as assistant general manager, adding an executive whose background combines hockey operations with legal expertise in player contracts, collective bargaining agreement compliance, and salary cap administration.

Mpofu joins the Predators after spending the past three seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins as director of hockey operations and legal affairs. In that role, he worked on matters involving contract negotiations, salary cap management, CBA compliance, roster construction, and other legal and operational issues.

According to the team, Mpofu’s responsibilities in Nashville will include player acquisition strategy, professional and amateur scouting, contract negotiations, salary cap and collective bargaining agreement compliance, and roster and personnel decisions.

The appointment reflects the increasingly prominent role attorneys play in professional sports front offices, where executives with legal training often play key roles in contract negotiations, collective bargaining agreement compliance and salary cap management.

Predators General Manager Chris MacFarland described Mpofu to the media as “one of the great young minds in the game today,” adding that he is expected to play a key role as the organization builds its management team.

Before joining Pittsburgh, Mpofu served as manager of hockey operations and legal affairs for the Los Angeles Kings from 2021 to 2023, working under then-General Manager Rob Blake, who now serves as the Predators’ vice president.

Mpofu earned his Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law, where he specialized in media, entertainment, technology, and sports law.