How to Watch
The draft will be held on Friday and Saturday, June 24 and 25. Round 1 will be broadcast live at 6 PM CT on the NBC Sports Network. Rounds 2-7 will be broadcast live starting at 8 on the NHL Network.
Nashville Predators Picks
The Nashville Predators will hold a total of 8 picks in the draft after the Jimmy Vesey trade, by which they gained the 108th overall pick; originally held by the Minnesota Wild.
1st Round: 17th Overall
2nd Round: 47th Overall
3rd Round: 76th and 78th Overall
4th Round: 108th Overall
5th Round: 138th Overall
6th Round: 168th Overall
7th Round: 198th Overall
Second Round Picks to Watch Out For
In this portion of the article I have decided to do a quick preview on three forwards, two defensemen, and a goalie who the Predators should be interested in as a second round pick.
Jonathan Dahlen, C/LW, 5’11”, 176 lbs.
Jonathan Dahlen of Timra (Emil Pettersson’s old team) caught my eye as a player with obvious and significant skill. He’s very smart and has great scoring and playmaking abilities, as well. On the downside, for a below-average player in the height department, he is also an average skater. If all goes well, Dahlen follows his father Ulf’s footsteps and makes it to the NHL.
Noah Gregor, C, 5’11”, 175 lbs.
Noah Gregor is a smaller but skilled two-way forward who missed much of the previous season due to injury. Gregor’s solid speed and smarts have allowed him to break through this season and put up 73 points in 72 games. Gregor is also hard-working and a solid playmaker and could be a great value-pick in this draft.
Cameron Morrison, C/LW, 6’2″, 209 lbs.
Cameron Morrison led the Youngstown Phantoms in goals and points for good reason. He has a fantastic wrist shot and he also has pretty good foot speed. Morrison will be heading to the University of Notre Dame in the fall.
Lucas Johansen, LD, 6’2″, 174 lbs.
Brother of Ryan Johansen, Lucas Johansen is a sound puck-moving defenseman for the Kelowna Rockets. He tries to model his game after Roman Josi and, while he’s not as fast (he’s even a bit below average) or as offensively talented, he has a great level of smarts and makes great decisions with the puck; somewhat like Josi. He is extremely solid defensively and does the little things. Drafting Lucas Johansen could also have some positive effects in signing his older brother.
Filip Hronek, RD, 6’0″, 163 lbs.
Filip Hronek spent most of the season playing for HK Hradec Kralove, a team in the top Czech league. Hronek is a fantastic skater and has great puck-moving abilities, along with solid smarts and positioning in all three zones. The obvious weakness with Hronek is his lack of size, which he will need to improve upon before making the jump to North America; if he ever does.
Filip Gustavsson, G, 6’1.5″, 190 lbs.
This draft definitely isn’t strong in the goaltending department and the Predators don’t seem too desperate to pick a goalie. However, if they were to pick a goalie in the second round, Filip Gustavsson would be a good target. He is a very technically strong goalie with controlled movement and positioning. Gustavsson is, for the most part, considered the best goalie in the draft.