Who Should the Nashville Predators Select in the First Round of the NHL Draft?

Who Should the Nashville Predators Select in the First Round of the NHL Draft?

it’s NHL draft week and on today’s locked on Predators we’ll talk about the nine picks the PRS have and look at how successful Nashville has been with those firstr picks of the past plus is NIS to Nashville heating up your locked on Predators your daily podcast on the Nashville Predators part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to the lock on Predators podcast and thank you for making us your first listen of the day we are your free daily Nashville Predators podcast we’re part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day want to kick off this episode with a shout out to our lock on PR heads those are our everyday listeners who tune in Monday through Friday to talk Nashville Predators hockey with us we appreciate your support and we love that we get to spend just a little bit of your day with you I’m Anne Kimmel I’m a writer at Penalty Box radio and my friends I have a partner in crime you do I’m Emma lingan and I am the Predator site editor and reporter for the hockey news so on today’s show Emma and I are going to take a look at the nine y’all nine picks Nashville has in the 2024 draft at least as of now and then we’re going to take a closer look at that first round we’re going to share who we drafted in the lock on mock draft and we’re going to take a look back at how successful the Predators have been with those first round picks of the past plus more Rumblings is Martin NIS to Nashville getting real we’re going to dive into all of that in just a moment but before we do want to let you know today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more as playoffs wind down the Sports Stop sportsing like we want them to but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer along visit fanduel.com lockon to get started all right happy draft week Emma this is like the kickoff of the big summer to-do in hockey we’ve got draft week and then hey don’t don’t get too comfy because it’s free agency and then we go right into Dev camp and oh the wheels come off the bus and For You especially this is going to be really busy because guess who’s going to Vegas I I do I do the party hands as if I’m gonna have any time to party in Vegas or as if I’m a partyer at all but yeah no it’ll I’m excited it’ll be good I will I will be at night one of the draft I will be uh traveling during day two uh or at least attempting to travel because yes I’m just I’m just praying that I have no issues um or at least like no major travel issues um I will also say I’m a little worried Emma because I went ahead and looked at the weather report for Las Vegas please pack sunscreen it is supposed to be 102 on Friday and 104 on Saturday so it just seems like you need to make sure you pack sunscreen that’s it is for sure um and I do not enjoy being hot but I mean it’s been pretty dang hot in Nashville this week and Nashville is humid and it’s been very muggy um and so at least you know a dry heat might be kind of nice I don’t know back when I worked in baseball they sent me to Arizona in July and it it reached the 130s and I was like y’all are trying to kill me and then that’s insane later that year they sent me to this was USA baseball they sent me to Indianapolis in January where it was minus 30 I was like y’all are seriously trying to kill me so uh yeah it’s 102 104 definitely unpleasant but I’ve experienced worse so you are Hardy you come from Hardy stock you can take this whether I want to or not that’s right yep that’s right well Nashville is going to be keeping you busy there because of course we know they have the 22nd pick overall in round one but that just scratches the surface of the picks Barry trotz is waltson into the sphere with in his pocket as of now because you know anything can happen and and Barry trotz has plenty that he can wheel and deal with when it comes to draft picks in 2024 and draft picks in 2025 he was um set up to do some shopping with pics if he so designed ERS um nine picks in the first round it seems like Nashville is going to be hopping if they keep those picks yeah it’s uh it’s gonna be busy either way because either you’re making that many picks or you’re making a lot of trads and right so either way I feel I’m going to have my work cut out for me I know when it was here in Nashville first of all it was so exciting I loved when the draft was here in Nashville and I do think that the NHL enjoyed the draft in Nashville but it was really exciting but it is very hectic behind the scenes because you are waiting to do media with the picks but you also don’t want to miss any picks and then you have to keep up on trades and it’s it’s um yeah it’s a very it’s a very hectic time of year and again like we said Nashville’s going to be crazy they have nine picks so let’s just walk through real quick the picks that Nashville has as of now 22nd overall first round pick we’re going to talk about that in today’s episode in the second round they have 53rd overall 55th and 59th overall the 53rd pick is part of that Tanner Jano Hall how you feel about that one Tampa Bay we got we got like a whole draft class for him that was great I feel like Barry trotz needs like a fanny pack to carry all the picks into the spere in tner Jano brought and the 59th pick was a pick that the PRS got from Winnipeg uh because they took Nino Neer from us he did still a little bit about that one third round um two picks in the third round is that correct yes 87 and 94 the fourth round they have pick number 99 and pick number 119 nothing in the fifth or sixth round so Emma will be taking a quick bathroom break in the fifth and six round and then round seven 213th pick overall and that W that’s a little bit of a heartbreaker of a pick for me that is because we allowed Ryan mcdonut to go back to Tampa Bay because Barry trotz is a great guy and all that stuff did have the 215th pick in this year’s draft but I do want to give a shout out for this because that pick was traded to the New Jersey Devils so that David pil last year could make a final selection in the seventh round here in Nashville his final selection as a GM and here is what I have to say because I am so tickled with this pick and like personally am way overinvestment on a line with freshman absolutely tore it up so you know that I am going to be wanting to talk to Aiden Frink at Dev camp but uh did give that pick away but so worth it last year David pil went out with a bang with Aiden Aiden Fink there and we got to or at least I got to meet Aiden Frink the next week because he was actually at Dev Camp which no one I don’t think would have sus like expected or people wouldn’t have necessarily blamed him for not coming I think seventh round pick and you find out oh it’s next week uh and he still came and he was so well spoken and just such seemed like such a good and he really he recognized the importance and the the magnitude of that pick that that he was selected with you could tell and it was it was really cool I asked him where he was like where he was when he found out he had been drafted and he said he had just walked out of class because he was at he was at school like summer school at Penn State because of hockey you know they have to go to school over the summer and uh he was like yeah I just walked out of my class and I had a Miss call from my agent and a text from my my dad I was like oh that’s so amazing that’s awesome I love that and then he was in Nashville the next week for Dev camp and then he went back to Penn State like you said and just absolutely tore it up so tore it up I am overly invested in him as a Pennsylvania girl like where I grew up when you went to the guidance counselor the question was not are you going to college the question was have you applied to Penn State all the all of the pickup trucks had stickers that said if God is not a Penn State fan why is the sky blue and white like this is just the place where I come from so for me Aiden Fink key seventh round pick later on this week we’re going to talk about some later round picks but today we are going to talk about Nashville that first round pick what we think they may be doing with that um before we dive into that real quick I want to play this quick video from Jeff kilty who talks about this year’s draft as you know just overarching he kind of sums up what they see in this draft this is what Jeff to say I I think it’s probably average maybe not quite as as good or as deep as last year but you know it you know drafts are always deemed as as good or bad or deep or what have you and you can go back years later and there’s always players in every draft so you know I think that you always kind of evaluated you know as a whole and you’re always talking about those sorts of things but every year there’s there’s good players to be had in every round and and that’s really the goal of the group to kind of go through that and and like I always say use the whole draft you know we have um good opportunity with with a lot of picks early in the draft but you never know what can happen with different trade scenarios you may end up having picks later on the draft that we uh need to be ready for so uh it’s a long process um you know but our guys are really thorough and and I think we always do a good job so such a huge job let me talk about the jobs that I would be so stressed out with because I think part of evaluating talent at 18 years old trying to project what are they going to be able to bring to an NHL team at 20 21 22 23 a little bit of Wizardry involved but Jeff kilty and the entire team that Nashville has they are ready for this draft coming up Emma and I are also ready for this draft we’re going to talk about that first round pick that Nashville has we’ll tell you who we picked in the locked on mock draft and we’re going to talk to you about what makes a successful first round draft pick for a team all that’s coming up first want to let you know today’s episode brought to you by FanDuel look I love sports I love them so much I never want them to stop but as these playoffs are winding down we get fewer and fewer games and the sports are not sportsing like I’d like them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I’m in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers new and old customers with a boost or a bonus and they’re doing it daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com locked on and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball when we did the mock draft with the locked on hosts you know I thought we I thought there was a pretty good pick for us at 22 do you wanna share your Pi Emma was the official picker that’s the title the official picker I got to in the email you know because we did it over email I got to be like with the 22nd pick in the 2024 NHL drop like I’m you know I I felt special for about second doing that um yes however I have spent the weekend looking at um other you know other Publications mock drafts uh and of course the picks are all over the board for everything Beyond number one like it really runs the gamut so I’m expecting to see a variety of like picks projected for the Predators um not a single other uh journalist that I have found has made this bck so I might be so you heard it here first when it happens yeah and if it doesn’t happen then I was just kidding uh no I think I think I I still feel good about this pick uh even though I might be on an island here and and what’s interesting about this pick is he’s a guy that I have seen in these mock drafts you know at first you think maybe okay well the he’s not projected to go to the PRS because he’s getting drafted earlier that makes sense but then I’ve seen him in some drafts going early than 22nd I’ve seen him in others going later than 22nd so it’s really like this is yeah the draft stresses me out I don’t I don’t like it um but the player that we’re talking about is Cole Bodwin and he is uh one of the I think he was named like it was either one of the strongest or the strongest uh prospects in the draft and that excited me because I was like oh Predators need some size uh he’s also a center which is another thing that the Predators need uh he plays for the Barry Colts right now uh in the CHL uh there was actually his team in Barry had posted a video of him earlier this year in the gym lifting and NHL teams reached out and asked if it was fake like they thought it was AI because he is a horse like he’s a lot there’s a lot of hockey player right there there is a lot of hockey player he might be you know the the fittest the strongest gu he can you know he maybe is not going to be the most like high octane goal scorer but he is one of the hardest workers in this draft class which you know that piqu my interest as well with Andrew brunnette and his comments about Phil thomasino and needing to put in the work and can’t just rely on talent and you know it seems like this guy has the work ethic to fit in fit right into that system um you know he’s he’s a fantastic penalty killer he’s a really good defensive forward which I think is you know of course Predators fans are going to be like oh we need more goal scoring yes we do but I think that if I’m looking at defensive forwards I’m looking at you know one guy we haven’t really talked about Colton sizin is not getting any younger either right if we’re talking about the Predators contending in like four years for example he’s gonna be 34 years old right and I mean again he could Roman Yosi is 34 years old right now it might mean nothing but I’m just saying you need to start building up that pipeline not even just for guys to play alongside your forsbergs and your yosis and whatnot but the guys to in theory replace them you know because eventually their hockey careers will come to an end so this is a guy that I really really I don’t I I think that he is tailor made for an Andrew brunette type system um just really really hard worker he just stunned as you can imagine just blew everyone out of the water at the scouting combine with because that’s all they do is just working out and stuff um I mean he he’s a monster in the gym and his um you know his trainers his coaches all speak very highly of him and how dedicated he is to his craft and you know maybe not the the fastest guy in the world but he’s a big body he’s strong he’s hard to move off of pucks and that is something that I think as I said fits very well with this system so with the 22nd pick in the 2024 NHL draft the Nashville Predators are proud to select Co Bodwin from Barry yep and you heard it here first no I I really like this pick too because and and everybody’s going to say well is he going to grow into be a onec here is what is real onc’s are Elite and hard to come by for a reason do I think he is you know the next big onc thing you likely no you never know but likely no but I think he brings so many great aspects to the game I love his size like you say his size his strength hard to move hardworking you love all of these things that you’re hearing about him this is somebody who could be a really important like middle six guy for the Nashville Predators bottom six guy and while you say oh first round and all they get is like a middle six bottom six guy look at the teams that are in the Stanley Cup Final you need quality middle six bottom six guys and Nashville that’s an area where the Predators could really stand to add some some size so I talked about that we talked about the middle you know it’s the the top line and the fourth line were great this year for the Predators the middle you know I could probably could probably stand to to add a guy like him again not that he’s gonna be cracking the roster next year by any means but still like you get him in your system and get him developing in your system and you know he’s a guy I think because of his size that you could see him at the NHL level sooner rather than later um and yeah I think you know he’s he’s got some things to work on like his skating his speed but I think that can be done um but yeah he’s he’s a guy that I that I like uh if he is still available I’ve seen again I’ve seen some everywhere I’ve seen some mock drafts where he’s gone in like the teens uh someone takes him in the teens and then you’re like okay well that’s why the Predators don’t take him but then I’ve seen other ones where he goes at like 24th or 25th so I think you know it’s all going to depend on who’s available this draft class is you know pretty stacked with quality defenseman um which you could take to mean two different things either that’s you want to get a defenseman in the first round or it’s like well we’ll roll the dice on this because there are so many quality defensemen that maybe they’ll still be there in the second round so yeah I mean take take from that what you will I don’t know the answer to that but I mean prior to last year when the Predators took Tanner mullik with their second pick of the first round they had not selected a defenseman in the first round since Dante Fabro and so it had been a minute and I think that now they’re realizing like oh we need this is an area that we need to start you know stockpiling again um especially you know in the pipeline if you’re going to have a Spencer stasy in uh in Nashville next year if you’re going to you know I’ve seen Mark del Geo’s name as much as I I hate to see it but I’ve seen his name linked as part of potential trade packages for Nashville and I like I don’t know what’s gonna happen and I don’t want to cross that very heartbreaking Bridge until we come to it but I think that that is an area you know teams need defensemen and this I think is a could be a lead in into what we’re going to talk about next with Martine NIS and things that the pre or that the hurricanes are looking for in return that’s a team that needs young defensemen and yeah here sits Nashville so it does open the door to what we’re calling a little bit more Rumblings there’s continued conversation about Nashville and Carolina also listen y’all as long as UC Saros remains unsigned to a contract extension in Nashville the Predators will continue to be quote unquote linked to every single guy on the trade market because they have that very valuable asset potentially and they have the cap space right now because they haven’t signed Soros to a long-term extension so it’s just the fact of it you know every single guy comes available NIS zis Marner L like whoever it’s like oh Nashville’s in the mix well of course they are because one they’re one of the only teams that could could it make it happen right if they’re willing to Fork over what would you know what the other team would require coming up we are going to continue diving into that Nashville Carolina talk we’re also going to look at a couple of picks in the first round that Nashville has made in the past and what are some 22nd overall picks that we have seen in the NHL all right Emma so talking about this first round draft pick Nashville again 22nd pick overall just want to throw out some names of players in the NHL who were the 22nd pick overall in their draft class hey Keandre Miller in 2018 oh here we go Nashville fan favorite this is going to make everyone feel really really good uh in 2021 Montreal with the 22nd pick overall selected defenseman Jared Tori yeah Jeff Kelty 22nd pick overall how about that but Jordan Everly Claude jaru Max pater ready you’re talking guys who have logged some significant games in the NHL that were the 22nd pick overall and here is what I will say about the draft in general it matters where you’re picked in the draft for a millisecond or two and then it’s all about what have you done for me lately you know and and so you have to kind of weigh out you know oh the Predators only have the 22nd pick overall there’s you can do a lot with a 22nd pick there are options to move up and down in the draft but the Predators could still get a pretty good player with this 22nd pick overall and they’ve done fairly well if you look back in the past at the picks that they’ve had kind of in between that like 18 to 25 30 range there’s some interesting names here Austin Watson Austin Watson was the 18th pick overall in 2010 okay here’s one this one’s gonna this one’s gonna age about as well as the whole Jared Tori thing um Ellie tolin 30th overall pick in 2017 oh favorite topic for PR’s fans yeah um hey I have an idea let’s throw some more gasoline on that fire in 2019 the 24th pick was Phil thomasino let’s go I knew you were going there so but also I will say 2021 19th overall Fedor stetchkov um Zachary laroo was 27th in 2021 so still some players in that range that Nashville is still waiting to see like where does their development process lead them Emma just in general what makes a pick a quote successful draft pick for you like is is there criteria where like hey if we’re picking a guy in the in the first round he’s got to be a top six guy he’s got to be a top four defensive guy or does that not matter as much I don’t know that it does because again for all the reasons that we’ve just said like it’s so hard to predict that from a a 17 or 18y old kid like you don’t know and again if you’re not picking in like the top three this you’re not picking a guy that you want to make an impact on your roster next year um you know it’s not the NFL like we’re not going to see these kids for a few years and I think that that’s why I I think you have to look overall you can’t get too specific with it you can’t be like okay we need a top six forward or whatever because if you look at and I’m not saying that this is what the Predators were saying at the time but I’m I’m thinking for example they draft a guy like Igor off and ASV they maybe weren’t saying this when he was drafted like oh he needs to be a top six forward but that was certainly the expectation corre and that is obviously not he he can very well be a top six forward just not in this organization right now and we talked about that on on yesterday’s show so I think that you have to look more at the needs of the organization overall and and you know what gaps they fill there you are are kind of restocking your pipeline there and so that’s what I think you need to and there are just so many things at play like are they coachable how you know how much of it is you know he’s not there yet but he’ll get there or we don’t think he’ll ever get there or you know whatever it is and and I think you just have to look again organizational need is going to be the biggest thing again I go back to aasv he could go to San Jose and he he could be a top six forward on that roster today uh but true he he just wasn’t there in Nashville and that’s okay but that’s why I think you can’t get too hung up on on you know the placement and the lineup and things like that I just need I think you need to look at the organization as a whole and that’s a tall task but it’s a lot of depth and you got to look at starting to plug those holes yeah I think too it’s important when you draft someone and again I feel like the number and the ranking counts for just milliseconds of these young men’s careers but you want somebody that’s going to kind of hold their value and when I say that I think of somebody like Phil thomasino because Phil thomasino is a player very much I think like eigor afanasev where other franchises may feel that’s somebody that’s going to be a fit for us might not be a fit right here in Nashville for whatever reason and I’m not speaking that over Phil thomasino I’m just you know using him as an example but this is still a young player with upside that maybe doesn’t fit in this system perhaps right now for Nashville but he has trade value Phil thomasino is valuable to the Nashville Predators still so I think there’s an element of that as well like even just that they continue to develop their own individual games like you said if it doesn’t land them with this franchise they still have a you know value as a trade piece or you know as a part of a package too so I think it’s just about continuing their development process and you talked about are they coachable are they going to get injured I mean there’s so many factors that go into what happens in the next three years after the draft to to factor into this as well do want to Pivot real quick so we can talk about this before we wrap up our show the NIS to Nashville first of all that’s a great t-shirt if it happens there should be swag um NES to Nashville kind of kind of heating up pot stirring a little bit uh on the fourth period they’re talking about like hey this is one of those Partnerships that we’re still keeping an eye on is Nashville in on NIS we’ve talked about it on previous episodes but just to summarize Emma is this a yes for you is this a no is this a perhaps for you well first of all I just got to say if we’re looking at recent history for the uh Carolina to Nashville pipeline um the the outcome hasn’t been great because you’ve ended up with Nino neider and myself and neither of us lasted well Nino didn’t last a full season I didn’t last two full seasons with the pred we love you both so there is value okay so yeah so we kept our value that you kept your value learn Phil Thomas yes so uh if if I would hope that if the PRS are going to try and go get a guy like n is that they’re trying to hold on to him for more than a year or two um but you know his name again he’s one of those guys that Carolina’s made it clear they’re shopping his rights and um but they’re also aware of how valuable he is and there are certainly teams out there that will overpay for a guy like him um he still to me is not a slam dunk you got to go get this guy I think just because he he will get overpaid and I mean right that’s fine but I don’t think that the Predators should be in that business and Barry trotz doesn’t want to be in that business but you know looking at what was said on the fourth period specifically it was that um you know there obviously a lot of Rumblings again about Nashville having sort of the the inside track on that one because they still have Soros as a tradable asset but it even said you know in in that context it would you know that for the Predators to have an advantage there they would have to include Soros in in a deal there and that’s not something that I necessarily foresee happening um and you know he also mentioned that an extension for Soros would look and we’ve known this for a while it’s probably going to look a lot like Connor heluk you know8 85 millionar for probably I would think it probably about six years at least I’m thinking um and and I know that that kind of number and that kind of term probably scares Barry trots he doesn’t want to you know made it clear he doesn’t want to do that I think it’s smarter you spend that money on Soros I think you’re going to get more value from him because NES if he gets overpaid now uh and then he’ll be up for a contract extension in however many years years and you know forwards get paid more so I think that he could end up costing you more and and I’m not just trying to make it all about the finances but I I do think that there’s uh there’s definitely I I still think this is a case of the Predators are still featured as heavily in these conversations as they are because Soros remains unsigned to an extension right now right they have the big chip in in in the deal out there right now you know we’ve seen a couple of our gold other go tenders move Saros is still out there you know Carolina’s interested in this I’m with you though I know it’s not all about money and I’m okay with Nashville paying some big bucks for the right player at the right time I’m just not sure it’s the right time yet for Nashville to Fork over a big contract coming up on tomorrow’s show Emma and I are going to take a look at some of those midr picks where has Nashville landed with some of their previous mid-round picks and you know could they find themselves a little gem in the second and third round we’re going to talk about that on tomorrow’s show before we sign off though Emma let everyone know where can they find you where can they find your work they can find me on social media at Emma lingan and you can find my work at the hockey news and you can find me on social media atkore Mama on Ice you can find my work at Penalty Box radio that’s going to do it for today’s edition of the locked on Predators podcast thanks for making us your first listen of the day we’ll be back tomorrow with more draft talk we’ll see you then

The Nashville Predators head into the NHL Draft this weekend with a slew of draft picks and plenty of options of what to do with them. On today’s Locked On Predators podcast, we review the nine picks Barry Trotz has in his pocket for the 2024 NHL Draft. All that draft capital could mean trade opportunities including a deal to bring Martin Necas to Nashville. We’ll tell you what we like and don’t like about that possibility. We’ll explain why we selected Cole Beaudoin in the Locked On NHL Mock Draft with the 22nd pick and look back at picks Nashville made in previous first rounds that have – and have not – panned out.

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