Trotz, Kealty Talk Selecting Martin Fifth Overall as Preds Pick Three in First Round of 2025 NHL Draft

Sometimes, you just know.

Long before the Predators were scheduled to make the fifth overall selection at the 2025 NHL Draft in Los Angeles, Nashville General Manager Barry Trotz and Co. had a pretty good idea of who they were hoping to add with the pick.

So, when the Preds were up on Friday night at the Peacock Theater, they didn’t hesitate.

Brady Martin was their choice, and shortly after selecting the offensively skilled and highly competitive centerman, the Preds explained why the Canadian farm boy was their guy.

“There were some really good names on the board, but I watched these guys in the room with scouts, and it came to a little bit of an ‘it’ factor,” Trotz said from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. “A guy shows up, all those intangibles, the work ethic, all those things. I mean, there's not too many things that are going to get in this guy's way. We had some tough decisions, but there was total passion on this pick. We have good intel that a lot of teams had him where we did. So, really, really good pick. I love this kid. When we met him at the Combine, he's infectious. We're really happy to have him.”

“I just think the combination of the competitiveness, the drive and the physicality, but his offensive talent as well,” Preds Assistant General Manager/Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty said of why they picked Martin. “I think there's a reason why he was a trending player. If you look at what he did in the second half of the season from an offensive standpoint and what he produced for the U-18 Canadian team that won the Gold medal at the U-18 World Championships, that's why he was rising the way he did - really kind of the complete package. There were a lot of great players to choose from, but we just felt that at the end of the day, he had the whole package for us.”

That positive trending was evident as Martin’s season went along with the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League.

The 18-year-old recorded a career-high 72 points (33g-39a), 72 penalty minutes and a +25 rating in 57 games last season while serving as an alternate captain for his club. The 6-foot, 187-pound forward ranked second on the Greyhounds in goals, assists, points and penalty minutes and first in plus-minus rating.

Internationally, Martin, who was born in Elmira, Ont., has represented Canada at three competitions, debuting for his country at the 2023 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, recording two goals and an assist in seven games. He also skated for Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, posting four assists in five games en route to a gold medal, and at the 2025 World U-18 Championship, again winning the title while being named to the tournament’s All-Star Team.

But what the stat lines won’t show is the competitive drive that Martin possesses, an attribute that is becoming a crucial element for any successful team’s roster in today’s NHL.

Comparisons to Florida Panthers forward and 2025 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett have already been made, and regardless of the player comps, Martin figures to become a fan favorite in due time, perhaps sooner than later.

“I can tell you, he's one of those players that you know they are just going to come to a training camp and go, ‘This kid's not coming here just for training camp and development camp, he’s coming here to take someone's spot, and he's very capable of it,’” Trotz said of Martin. “We'll let it play out, but knowing his mentality, just watching in the short time that we got to see him, and everything that the scouting staff has said about him, he'll push people out of a job if they're not careful. That's just his mentality. He comes and brings it every night.”

The Preds also added two more players in Round 1 of the Draft - defenseman Cameron Reid and forward Ryker Lee.

In Reid, Nashville added an elite skater with offsenvie upside from the backend that they traded up from pick No. 23 to No. 21 to ensure they could select.

“Cam is just a terrific all-around player,” Kealty said. “Great mobility, great hockey sense. Not the biggest - he’s 6-foot - but he competes in defense well to size. He's got a great stick, great reach in the defensive zone, and we just think he's going to get better and better. These are the types of guys that just continue to develop. He's got all those tangible things that you see, but the intangibles as well. He’s a guy we talked a lot about. We had him kind of pinpointed. We actually moved up a little bit there to get him, because we were a little afraid that we wouldn't get him if we didn't and it worked out.”

Lee had an outstanding season with Madison of the USHL and has committed to Michigan State for the upcoming campaign, and he’s a player the Preds also coveted with the 26th selection.

“The USHL is not the easiest league to score in,” Kealty said. “Usually the guys that can produce and put points at that level can do at the college level pretty quickly, so we’re excited to get him. He's got a great offensive skill set, great shot, great release. He can shoot pucks from a lot of different angles, changes angle, those sorts of things. He's kind of a natural scorer in that sense… I think he'll be a really good spot [at Michigan State] in terms of his development offensively, but his all around game is training everything that he needs. He's in a really good spot, and that’s a guy that we spoke a lot about.”

Time will tell how all three of Nashville’s first rounders make their mark on the organization, but as the Preds made three picks in Round 1 for the first time in franchise history, they were certainly optimistic with their choices.

Especially the one at No. 5.

“I would say there's two guys that in the first two to four minutes that you're with them, you're going, ‘I get it,’” Trotz said. “Brady was one of them.”