The anticipation that comes with the NHL Draft for any organization is tough to ignore.
Each year, as clubs call names of highly-touted teenagers to join their respective groups, the promise of a potentially franchise-altering addition is exciting, to say the least.
As of Friday morning in Buffalo, the Predators currently own 11 picks in this year’s Draft, including the 10th overall selection in the first round.
And no matter what the Preds do over the next two days, Nashville’s President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chris MacFarland is very much looking forward to his first Draft with his new team - and a chance to add a piece or two that could make an impact for years to come.
“Draft time is always exciting,” MacFarland said Thursday morning from Bridgestone Arena, where the Preds will assemble their management and scouts to run their Draft room from afar. “You're bringing in new players into the system, and everybody's organization, after [Friday] night, it’s going to feel like they're better, right? And I think that’s the fun part of the Draft. Getting to know the scouts here for me is huge this week. They put in a lot of hard work all year for these two days, so I’m super excited hearing about the names and getting to know some of the players we're excited about at pick 10.”
What MacFarland and his group hope to accomplish over the next 48 hours is to not only add fresh faces to an already impressive prospect pool, but also to continue a process of improvement across the organization that has already begun.
“You can't rush that process,” MacFarland said of improving his group. “When you try and rush it, I think that's where things can really go off the rails and slide down the mountain. I think there's a lot of good players in the system that are going to come. Some are going to come quick, hopefully, and some are going to take a little more time, and that's OK. I think development is going to be a really important part of our organizational puzzle, for lack of a better term, and getting a handle on strength and conditioning programs, development teams, what’s going on in [AHL affiliate] Milwaukee, that's going to be a big focus for us as a management team for the foreseeable future. And just making sure our infrastructure is good and all that, but I think we're just going to be looking to get incrementally better with each move we make, starting [Friday] night with pick 10.”
MacFarland says he knows the Predators will get a good player with the 10th overall pick, and while the GM is always listening to what might be out there, especially with trades across the NHL in recent days, “the expectation, for me, would be to make a pick at 10.”
“We’ve got to be careful with our first-round picks, because right now it's pick 10, and we’re going to get a good player there, but we'll be in the conversations on anything that we feel can make us better,” MacFarland said. “We’ll have a plan, we'll work it, but I don't think it's going to be something that we’re rushing into. We know where we are, we know what we are right now, but that doesn't mean we're not going to try and make incremental improvements wherever we can.”
MacFarland has done just that with a pair of trades over the last two weeks to bring forwards Ross Colton and Jack Drury into the organization, moves he believes will make the Preds better now and in the future.
There will be opportunities for more deals as well, and as MacFarland explained, some items are top of mind when it comes to strengthening his roster.
“We certainly want to improve in the middle of the ice, and I think we have to improve certain characteristics on the backend,” MacFarland said. “I think the backend is your engine and how you initially get the puck out and can play the offensive zone. So, puck moving and transition-type games are something we're going to talk about a lot here, whether it's for the Draft or free agents or future acquisitions. I think that's something we're going to look at, but if we can get incrementally better in areas a little at a time, that's what we're going to do.”
Ultimately, MacFarland believes the Predators are in a great spot to methodically build a team in the right way. A massive part of that process begins Friday night in Buffalo, and that anticipation for the future will only flourish from there.
“Hopefully, we'll grab a good one at 10 and then get ready for day two, but it's awesome,” MacFarland said. “I mean, Draft weekend, whether it's in person, like we did for years, or even the last two years [decentralized], there's always a buzz around. People are talking hockey, and it's an opportunity to get better, talk to the GMs, so that's why we do what we do.”
The 2026 NHL Draft will be held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The first round is set for June 26 (6 p.m. CT; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 27 (10 a.m. CT; NHLN, ESPN+, SN).
Join the Preds for the official Draft Watch Party, beginning at 5 p.m. CT on Friday, at BetMGM Sports Lounge inside Bridgestone Arena for live media coverage, special guests, exclusive giveaways, food & drink specials and more. On Saturday, attend the Preds Summer Open House from 12-4 p.m. at Bridgestone Arena. Explore available seating options, watch additional live Draft coverage, enjoy fun activities for the whole family and check out our annual Used Equipment Sale. General public access to the used equipment sale will begin at 2 p.m. CT.
Stay tuned to NashvillePredators.com and @PredsNHL on social media for complete coverage of the NHL Draft.
