The Nashville Predators scouting staff has seen just about everything over the past 25-plus years - but three picks in the first round of the NHL Draft?
That’s a first.
In this year’s iteration, however, that’s exactly where the Preds find themselves. As the team holds its annual scouting meetings this week at Bridgestone Arena, the ante has been upped just a bit considering what’s at stake.
“Every year is different with how many picks you have, and as everybody knows, we have the three [first-round] picks this year, a lot of draft capital, so that allows you to do different things,” Preds Assistant General Manager/Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty said Tuesday. “But the first step is to get that list in order, because, like I said, every year is different. Then, you figure out how you want to try to attack it. But we're in a good spot with all the picks that we have. That's for sure. We can try to do a lot of different things.”
As of now, the Predators own 10 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, which will be held on June 27-28 in Los Angeles, including those three in the first round and two more in the second round.
On Monday night, following the results of the 2025 NHL Draft Lottery, the Preds found out their first selection in this year’s Draft will come at No. 5 overall. That’s a high selection - only the third time in team history they’ve received a pick in the Top 5 of any Draft.
Of course, the Predators would have preferred to win Monday night’s Lottery to earn the top pick, but the fifth overall selection is hardly a disappointing position.
“I was saying last night, there's things you can control and things you can't control,” Kealty said. “We had no control over what was going to happen last night. We’re picking fifth overall, which is still a lot higher than we've picked lately, and we're going to have an opportunity to get a really good player. And, I don't think we should lose sight of all the other picks we have as well. So, we'll get a really good player at five and have a lot of opportunity after that. So, we’re excited about all of it, and a lot of work to be done.”
These meetings mark the unofficial start of the offseason for Predators scouts as they work to build their master list of player rankings to determine who they might want to select when the time comes.
As is typically the mindset, Nashville believes in selecting the best player available, but there might just be a perfect fit when their first selection comes around.
“We want to draft what we think is going to be the best player…but everybody knows we could probably use a centerman,” Kealty said. “There haven’t been a lot of centermen at the top of the draft [in recent years], so that could line up well. But really the job is to order them as best we can, and those sorts of things come into play, needs and things like that. But you never go wrong with taking the best player.”
Once the Predators have their list finalized, the next notable occasion will come in the form of the NHL Draft Combine which takes place during the first week of June in Buffalo. There, Preds scouts and management will be able to get to know the top prospects firsthand as they observe fitness testing and hold face-to-face meetings.
From there, the Draft will only be a few weeks out, and the Preds will have their final chances to plan for just about anything with trades and movement in and around the Draft always a possibility.
“[Having three first-round picks], I think it just puts things in a little bit of a different mindset for you,” Kealty said. “Sometimes, when you build your list, maybe you have a first rounder, and then you don't even you don't pick again until the third round or something like that. So, you always try to be thorough and plan for everything, no matter what picks you have… Whether you move those picks or not is to be determined, but you’ve got to do the work to determine that, and that's what we're doing right now.
“So, whether we stand pat where we are with all the picks, or we trade them, or trade up, trade down, trade them out to the next year, whatever it is, this is all part of the process right now that we're going through, building the list, building on the strategy. So, there’s a lot of work to be done, but we're off to a good start.”
There’s a general consensus around the League that while the next Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon may not necessarily come out of the 2025 Draft, there will still be difference makers to be had, and that’s exactly what the Preds will be looking for with their first pick and beyond.
“I think there'll be some top players that come out of this draft,” Kealty said. “You can say that it's not as deep or as good of a draft, however you want to call it, but there's always top players that come out of every draft. Maybe they come out later in the draft. Maybe there's a fourth round or a fifth round pick that turns out to be better… These guys are always there to be had. And that's the job of our group, to try to find these guys. And this week's a big part of that.”
When the Predators do eventually make their selections, at least a year or two is likely to pass before they know what they truly have in a player, but that’s all part of the deal.
And when it’s all said and done? They might just land the next star in Music City.
“[This whole process], it’s exciting,” Preds Chief Amateur Scout Tom Nolan said. “You can really feel like you're putting a stamp on the team, on the organization. We want to get the best player. We want to start this process going with these picks… It’s basically trying to get the best player you can to help our program win a Stanley Cup.”
