Preds Excited for Future with Top Prospect Tomasino

When pick No. 24 arrived for the Predators at the 2019 NHL Draft last summer, they weren't expecting Philip Tomasino to still be available.

Less than a year later, Tomasino has shown exactly why those at the Nashville table were surprised.

The 18-year-old forward recorded 40 goals and 100 points in 62 games this past season while spending time with both Niagara and Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. That point total was good enough to slot fourth among all skaters in the OHL, and while the Predators were impressed with his output with the IceDogs, a midseason trade to the Generals showed just how good Tomasino could be

Numbers like that - including a five-point outing in his Oshawa debut - have Predators management rather excited about the future, a future that might just arrive sooner than later.

"That's certainly the hope," Preds Assistant General Manager Jeff Kealty said Monday when asked if Tomasino could compete for an NHL roster spot next season. "He did exactly what we would have hoped for this season. We really liked him coming into the draft, and you hear people say it all the time, but we really didn't think he was going to be there. We really didn't. We thought he would go a bit before we drafted him… His talent is terrific, he's got great skills…and in certain areas, he's probably really close [to playing in the NHL], but he's still an 18-year-old player. The way we look at it, no matter what, we're going to do what's right for his development."

Tomasino, who signed his entry-level contract last fall with the Preds, could certainly head back to Oshawa this fall to continue to improve and round out his game against some of the top junior competition in the world. He would hardly be the first to do so, and even on that path, the future would still be incredibly bright for a player who has arguably become the top prospect in the Nashville system.

"If he comes in and makes our team next year, that's great," Kealty said. "He's not quite there yet…[and we want to] ensure he develops the right way. Normally, with a player like that…he would go back to junior before he can play in the National Hockey League, as it serves as a little bit of a gap there, but it's exciting. You draft the player, then it just shows you how quickly these kids can come on here, and then later you're talking about joining a professional team. That would be terrific, but again, we're always going to do what's right for his development because it's not just about where does he play next year or how does he do next year, it's about his career and what type of player he is for the long term."

It remains to be seen what will happen in the months to come, especially given the uncertainty throughout the hockey community when it comes to playing again, but it's becoming clear Tomasino will likely find his way to Nashville at some point.

And like so many things in life, it's not where you start, it's where you finish. Perhaps other NHL teams will look back a decade later and wish they hadn't left a speedy and skilled centerman there at No. 24 for the Preds.

"When you go back 10 years from now, you're not going to go look at who played the quickest or who played one or two years off from their draft, you're going to look at who was the best overall player, and so we want to make sure that we put him in the right spot to do that," Kealty said. "With his talent, his foundation, his competitiveness, he's got all the tools to be a really good player for us."