The Predators will have the opportunity to make a top-five selection in the NHL Draft for just the third time in franchise history this year.
Such is the benefit of one of the worst seasons since the team began playing in 1998.
When the Philadelphia Flyers won Wednesday night, it meant the Predators (29-42-8) were locked into finishing this season with the NHL’s third-worst record, no matter how many of Nashville’s final three games the team wins or loses.
The Preds will have an 11.5 percent chance of winning the NHL’s draft lottery and gaining the No. 1 pick, per MoneyPuck. Those are the third-best odds behind those of San Jose (currently at 25.2 percent) and Chicago (13.8 percent), the two teams that will finish below Nashville in the standings.
The Predators will drop no further than No. 5 based on lottery results.
The draft lottery will take place on either May 5 or May 6, depending on NHL playoff schedules, per reports.
Only twice in the franchise’s 27 previous drafts have the Preds picked in the top five.
The first occurred in the 1998 draft, prior to Nashville’s expansion season, when the Predators selected center David Legwand with the No. 2 overall pick.
The other happened in 2013, when the Predators selected defenseman Seth Jones with the No. 4 overall pick.
One big benefit of picking in the top five — and potentially selecting first overall— is the opportunity to add a talent so promising he could make an impact on the Predators right away. The vast majority of drafted players take years to develop before they’re ready to play in the NHL.
In 2023, for example, the top three picks in the draft — Chicago’s Connor Bedard, Anaheim’s Leo Carlsson and Columbus’ Adam Fantilli — stepped straight into the NHL and produced double-figure goal-scoring seasons as rookies.
The Predators have rarely drafted players that transitioned into the NHL immediately and made meaningful contributions as rookies.
One exception was Jones, who played 77 games for Nashville as a 19-year-old, totaling six goals and 19 assists. Another was forward Scott Hartnell, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2000 draft, who played 75 games as an 18-year-old for the Preds in 2000-01, producing two goals and 14 assists.
Who might the Predators be targeting at the top of this year’s draft, which will be held June 27-28 in Los Angeles?
A franchise long in desperate need of top-line centers would likely have a hard time passing up either Michael Misa (Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League) or James Hagens (Boston College) if either 18-year-old were still on the board.
Misa has racked up 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) in 65 games for Saginaw this season, while Hagens has produced 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) against older competition in the NCAA ranks.
Nashville will have two picks late in the first round as well, one resulting from the trading of forward Tanner Jeannot to Tampa Bay and the other from the trading of goalie Yaroslav Askarov to San Jose.