Predators Land 'Pro Package' in First-Rounder, Trade Pickup Reid Schaefer

Reid Schaefer wouldn't have the last couple of years go any other way.
After finishing his third season with the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds with 58 points (32g-26a) through 66 contests, the young forward carried his club all the way to the WHL Championship Series with a dominant 21-point showing through 25 postseason appearances.
Weeks later, the Edmonton, Alberta native was on stage at the Bell Centre wearing his home team's jersey after going to the Oilers 32nd overall at the 2022 NHL Draft. Weeks after that, the young prospect was sharing a sheet of ice with hockey heroes Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl at his first National Hockey League training camp.
The fun didn't end there.

In December, Schaefer registered an assist en route to a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship - his first outing on the World Junior stage and two months later was traded to the Nashville Predators along with defenseman Tyson Barrie and a pair of picks for veteran blueliner Mattias Ekholm.
Speaking from the Thunderbirds practice facility in Kent, Wash., on Monday afternoon, Schaefer employed a good bit of understatement to sum it all up:
"It's been pretty crazy," he laughed. "But I wouldn't change it for the world."
The Predators, it seems, wouldn't change anything either.
While Nashville ultimately concluded day one of the 2022 draft with Joakim Kemell at 17th overall, an interest in Schaefer never dwindled.
After all, who wouldn't want a 6-foot-4, 214-pound power forward with some of the best numbers in the Western League?
"We've liked him for a while, and we really liked him last year," Predators Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Development Scott Nichol said. "He has a unique skill set of size, power, a great release and a little bit of an edge too. He's got a pro package to him. We gave up a really good player here and you have to give something to get something, so we're super excited to have him as a part of our group."
While the last 12 months likely passed Schaefer by in the blink of an eye, not a day went unearned. In fact, perhaps more interesting than the forward's ability to land on the scoresheet night after night is the journey that got him there.
Through his first seven games with the Thunderbirds in the 2019-20 season, Schaefer recorded just one assist. During the Western League's COVID-shortened season in 2020, Schaefer tallied just two points - both assists - through 18 games.
But Schaefer kept grinding, and as the puck started finding the back of the net more often than not, the young winger's value as a potential draft pick began trending - somewhat astronomically - in the right direction.
Ranked 85th and pegged as a third or fourth-round pick in NHL Central Scouting's midseason report, Schaefer rocketed all the way to spot No. 31 in the agency's final report before the draft.
"I wasn't really even ranked as a draft prospect before the season started going," he said. "But I was producing and pucks were going in the net and I was playing with more confidence. I was just getting a little bit more opportunity and just kind of ran with it."
Since then, the opportunities haven't stopped coming, and Schaefer hasn't shown any sign of slowing down.
After concluding his first NHL training camp with preseason contests against the Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken, Schaefer went back to the Thunderbirds with a sense of determination known only by those who have experienced hockey on its biggest stage.
"You get a chance to see firsthand what it takes to be at the next level," he said. "When you're practicing with guys like McDavid and Draisaitl, you see how skilled they are and there's a reason why they're the top two players in the League. So it was special to watch, but obviously shows you how much faster it is on the next level and just how quickly things move."
Now in his fourth campaign with Seattle, Schaefer is just five points away from eclipsing last season's point total with 16 fewer games under his belt.
"I'm just playing my game right now," Schaefer said. "Things are going my way, I'm playing with confidence and my linemates make it easy on me. We've got a heck of a team here in Seattle and just an immense amount of depth throughout the lineup, so it doesn't really matter who I'm playing with. Production-wise, things are going well and I've just got to keep doing that heading into the playoffs here."
With the Thunderbirds already U.S. Division Champions and postseason favorites, Schaefer will no doubt be called upon to lead his teammates to another shot at the Ed Chynoweth Cup and - by extension - the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup.
It's that depth of experience combined with an exceptional skill set that makes Nichol confident Schaefer could make the jump to the professional level - whether in Milwaukee or a step beyond - very soon.
"He's ready," Nichol said. "In his mind, he's probably thinking - as he should be - that he should come right out of training camp and fight for a spot in the NHL. That's where I would think his mindset would be with his size and his pedigree of playing in the Western League and that style of game and that grind of a game… If he's going to fit our system and our way of life and how we develop guys and how we insulate them and make them succeed, then he's going to be a Nashville Predator for a long time."