Once David Poile turned from playing to management, he emerged as an astute and highly successful hockey executive.

The son of longtime player and executive, Bud Poile, David was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on February 14, 1950. He played his minor hockey in the Toronto area but attended college at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. While there, Poile starred with the school’s Huskies hockey team from 1967-68 to 1969-70. He led the team in scoring in his final two seasons and was voted the Most Valuable Player in 1968-69 and 1969-70, also serving as captain in his final season. Poile set his school’s team record of scoring 82 goals, including 11 hattricks, in his three seasons at Northeastern, and was inducted into the Northeastern Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1987.

During the 1970-71 season, David Poile played three games for the American Hockey League (AHL)’s Rochester Americans but finished the season with the Braintree Hawks of the New England Senior Hockey League (NESHL), scoring 44 goals and adding 40 assists for 84 points.

In 1972, Poile started working in the head office of the Atlanta Flames, a new expansion franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was named the interim coach of the Central Hockey League (CHL)’s Tulsa Oilers during the 1976-77 season and a year later, was named Assistant General Manager of the Atlanta Flames. When the franchise relocated to Calgary in 1980, David remained with the franchise for two more seasons.

In 1982-83, Poile was named General Manager of the Washington Capitals, and remained with the team in that capacity for 15 seasons, with the team making the playoffs 14 times while he was with the team. The Sporting News named David Poile its Executive of the Year in 1982-83 and 1983-84.

Released by Washington, Poile was quickly hired as General Manager of the Nashville Predators in 1997-98 and remained with the franchise for 24 years until he retired in June 2023. In 2007, he was promoted to Vice President Hockey Operations/General Manager of the Predators. In 2016-17, after his team advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time, Poile was named the NHL’s General Manager of the Year, receiving the newly named Jim Gregory Award.

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

Besides contributing to his teams’ rosters, Poile was selected as one of four NHL general managers for the first NHL Competition Committee in 2005. He used 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 had previously been instrumental in the League’s adoption of the instant replay rule in 1991.

In 1998 and 1999, Poile was named General Manager of the USA National Team at the World Championships. An original member of the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group formed in 2007, he played a pivotal role in assisting USA Hockey with the selection of players and staff for the U.S. Men’s National Teams, including the Olympic squad. Poile was named Associate General Manager of the 2010 USA Olympic Team and he was named General Manager of the USA Olympic Team in 2014.

In 2001, David Poile received the Lester Patrick Trophy for his contributions to hockey in the United States. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018 and in 2024, he was welcomed into the Hockey Hall of Fame after being elected in the Builder Category.