Brady Martin, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, has made the Nashville Predators’ opening night roster and likely will be in the starting lineup Oct. 9 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena.
And if you want to see Martin play in Nashville this year, this might be one of your few chances.
Martin, who was drafted out of Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League, signed his three-year, entry-level contract Aug. 20. That decision set the table for his debut against Columbus, but it also presents a fork in the road for the Predators: They can either keep him in Nashville for the 2025-26 season, which would begin the clock on his contract, or send him back to the OHL for the year, delaying his contract by a year.
The Predators can play Martin in up to nine games before having to make that decision. Because he is not yet 20 years old, he is not eligible to play in the American Hockey League.
Explaining Brady Martin, nine-game rule
There has been a long-standing agreement between the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as it relates to drafted players. The CHL, which is a combination of three junior hockey leagues — the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) — is the sport’s premier junior hockey league. It has a long history of developing the world’s best players, including Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
According to the agreement, players drafted out of the CHL are under certain restrictions before they turn 20 years old: NHL teams must return under-20 players to their junior teams unless they keep them on their NHL rosters for the entire season. They cannot assign 18- or 19-year-olds to the American Hockey League if they were drafted out of the CHL.
The purpose behind the agreement was to preserve the CHL’s status as the best junior hockey league. Outside of the top talent in each draft year — like McDavid, Crosby, and MacKinnon — most teams return their CHL drafted players to their junior teams for the season. This ensures the CHL can stock elite talent and market its product.
A wrinkle in the agreement says that NHL teams can play their CHL drafted players in up to nine games before making the decision. Most years, one or two players are given this “trial run,” and more often than not, they return to the CHL after the trial. A recent example of this was Philadelphia Flyers forward Jett Luchanko, who played in four games as an 18-year-old last season, then was sent back to Guelph (OHL).
Collegiate hockey, especially with the rise of money earned through NIL (name, image and likeness), has challenged this setup. After more and more players began leaving the CHL to play in college, a new agreement was reached in 2025. Among the changes, NHL teams can play one 19-year-old in the American Hockey League starting with the 2026-27 season.
Since we now know the Predators will give Martin a trial run of up to nine games, what will happen after that? Will he stay on for the season?
It probably depends on how the Predators and Martin perform. If, like last year, the team has a slow start, he likely is headed back to the OHL. No sense in burning a year if it doesn’t help the team. But if the Predators are winning, and Martin is contributing, he might end up staying in Nashville.
Note that the nine games do not have to be consecutive. And if he is a healthy scratch, that would not count toward his nine-game trial.
Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.