The Nashville Predators organization has had an impressive track record of finding late round gems at the NHL Draft. Both goaltenders on the Preds current roster were taken later on in their respective drafts. Pekka Rinne wasn’t selected until the 8th round in 2004 and Juuse Saros was taken 99th overall in 2013. They even selected Patric Hornqvist with the last pick of the 2005 NHL Draft and he’s gone on to play 13 seasons and win two Stanley Cups. But the area the Predators have been arguably most impressive at is drafting is defenseman. Their roster and those of numerous other NHL teams are dotted with Nashville draft picks.
The 2003 Draft
The Predators took Ryan Suter, Kevin Klein, and Shea Weber with three of their first four selections in the 2003 draft. Not too shabby. The first to be taken was Ryan Suter at 7th overall. Suter came highly touted out of the University of Wisconsin and was the first defenseman to hear his name called that year. He only spent one season in Madison playing for the Badgers before spending a season with Milwaukee in the AHL. Suter would go on to play 7 seasons in Nashville and three of them were as the team’s assistant captain before signing with Minnesota as a free agent in 2012. He is now in his 16th season and is closing in on 1200 games played.
Nashville then went on to take Kevin Klein with the 37th overall pick. Klein would spend nine seasons as a reliable defenseman for the Predators organization. After his tenure with the Preds, Klein spent almost four seasons as a New York Ranger. He was a part of their Stanley Cup run in 2014 against the Los Angeles Kings.
Perhaps one of the biggest steals of the draft came in the 2nd round at pick 49. The Predators used that pick to select Shea Weber, a towering defenseman out of the WHL. It didn’t take Weber long to earn a spot in the Nashville lineup. He played 28 games with the Preds during 2005–2006 along with 46 games in the AHL with Milwaukee. Weber proved at both levels that he could be an asset offensively, defensively, and provide toughness as well. Throughout his 16 seasons in the NHL, Weber has compiled a pretty amazing trophy case. He’s won gold at the World Championships, World Cup of Hockey, and two times at the Olympics as a member of Team Canada. Not to mention, during juniors he helped win two WHL Championships, a Memorial Cup, and a gold medal at the World Juniors. He’s been an NHL All-Star basically every year since 2008 and won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in his last season as a Predator in 2015–2016. In his time with Nashville, Weber was the captain for six seasons.
Weber was involved in a blockbuster trade following the completion of the 2015–2016 season where he was sent to Montreal in exchange for P.K Subban. The deal was somewhat shocking and controversial for both fan bases. Weber has since continued his stellar play as a Canadien and is in his third season as team captain. P.K. Subban spent three years in Nashville and helped backbone their D core to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. He was later dealt for two young defensemen out of the NCAA and two 2nd round picks.
The Predators set themselves up for success for years to come following the 2003 Draft as they’ve only missed the playoffs three times since then. They were unable to make any deep runs into the playoffs with Suter, Klein, and Weber but they helped create a winning culture and passionate fanbase to go along with it.
Draft Picks on Other NHL Clubs
As mentioned earlier, both Shea Weber and Ryan Suter have moved on to other NHL clubs after successful tenures with the Predators. There are a couple of other notable defenseman around the league who were selected by Nashville and have gone on to be a key part of their respective teams.
At 4th overall in 2013, the Predators selected one of the better defensemen playing in the NHL today. Nashville took the first defenseman off the board in Seth Jones out of the Portland Winterhawks and the USNTDP. Jones stepped immediately into the Preds lineup the following season playing 77 games. During the 2014–2015 season, Jones played all 82 games and rounded out his two-way play registering 27 points and a plus minus of +3. Seth Jones went on to play the first 40 games of the next year with the Preds before being sent to Columbus in exchange for Ryan Johansen. The Predators had such a talented group of defensemen that it seemed inevitable one would have to go. Their group for 2015–2016 was at one point made up of Roman Josi, Shea Weber, Mattias Ekholm, Seth Jones, and Ryan Ellis. That’s absolutely ridiculous and it’s a testament to the drafting abilities of Nashville as all of these players were drafted and developed within the organization. Jones would go on to Columbus and take his play to another level in all areas of the game. He’s since been voted to the NHL All Star Game four times and helped lead the Blue Jackets to big time playoff performances against teams like Tampa Bay and Toronto. Jones has the 2nd most NHL games played of all players taken in the 2013 draft just behind Sean Monahan of the Calgary Flames.
More recently, the Preds took Samuel Girard who is currently playing for the Colorado Avalanche. Girard was taken in the 2nd round at 47th overall in 2016. However, Girard’s tenure in Nashville was very brief. He played 6 games in the AHL with Milwaukee, then only 5 games with the Preds before being dealt to the Avalanche in a three-way trade which also included the Ottawa Senators. Since joining the Avalanche, Girard has gone on to establish himself as a talented offensive defenseman within one of the most talented defensive groups in the league. His assist totals have increased each of his three years in Colorado and he’s a shifty skater that can move extremely well. So far through 11 games, Girard has logged 1 goal and 8 assists. He has the 3rd most NHL games played of any defenseman to come out of that draft. Jacob Chychrun is leading the way with 250 while Mikhail Sergachev is just ahead of Girard with 242 games played.
Current Group
Nashville’s current defensive group is comprised primarily of players they selected over the years. A handful were also key pieces of their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016–2017 where they fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Preds would go on to select the reigning Norris Trophy winner early in the 2nd round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Roman Josi is a player out of Switzerland that has developed into one of the premier offensive defensemen in the league. Now in his 10th NHL season, Josi has tallied over 50 points in half of those seasons. The three time All Star also has the 3rd most goals and 4th highest point total of all defensemen since the beginning of the 2017–2018 season. He also has a plus minus of +49 during this time as his game is far from one dimensional. Josi is yet another example of finding world-class talent outside of the first round. Roman Josi is also currently the 7th captain in franchise history.
Two current defensemen were picked in the 2009 draft. Ryan Ellis was taken 11th overall as one of the top defensemen in the draft after an unbelievable junior career. He won two Memorial Cups and OHL Championships with the Windsor Spitfires and had 1.38 points per game over three seasons. In that time, he won two silver medals and one gold medal with Canada at the World Juniors. After wrapping up his junior career, Ellis spent parts of two seasons back and forth between Nashville and the AHL. He’s since become a fixture in the Preds lineup providing leadership and a balanced two-way game.
Later in that same draft, the Preds nabbed Mattias Ekholm in the 4th round. He was the one of two Nashville 4th rounders alongside Craig Smith taken that year to go on to play over 500 NHL games and become important pieces of the franchise. Similar to Ryan Ellis, Ekholm has been a reliable two-way defenseman since entering the league in 2013. Ekholm has been crucial to the recent success of the Predators organization and shows how a late round pick can go on to help alter the trajectory of a franchise for years to come.
As we saw earlier, Nashville snagged a talented defenseman in Samuel Girard during the 2016 draft. However, prior to that selection, the Predators used their 1st round pick on Dante Fabbro. Fabbro spent three seasons at Boston University where he was a team captain, won a Hockey East title, and a World Junior gold with Team Canada. Fabbro’s ascent to the NHL may not have happened as quickly as Girard’s, but Fabbro is emerging as another solid pickup for Nashville. He can skate extremely well and can contribute to the game in a number of ways through his poise and offensive upside.
Future Blue Liners
Nashville has shown a willingness to take players out of the NCAA in later rounds as we’ve seen with players like Craig Smith and with a few of their top defensive prospects. Some of the top defensemen in the NCAA right now are Nashville draft picks.
One of those top defensemen is David Farrance, a senior at Boston University. Farrance has tremendous offensive upside from the blueline. He’s only skated in 6 games so far this year with the Terriers but has 14 points. Last season was a career year all over the stat sheet as well. He had career highs in goals, assists, points, and plus/minus. His 43 points and well-rounded play led to him being named a Hobey Baker Award Finalist and voted as the best NCAA defensemen in New England. Heading into his draft year, Farrance was the 60th ranked prospect by TSN and Bob McKenzie, yet the Preds grabbed him at 92nd overall in 2017.
The following year the Predators selected another defensemen that would be heading to play in the NCAA in the 5th round. Spencer Stastney is a Wisconsin native who spent time with the USNTDP prior to enrolling in Notre Dame. He won a Big Ten Championship in his first season in South Bend and was a member of Team USA at the World Juniors as a sophomore. Stastney has seen his role steadily increase throughout his three seasons and is developing into a dependable defenseman in all areas. Heading into the 2018 NHL Draft, Stastney was ranked 93rd overall by central scouting and the Preds took him 131st overall.
Nashville was also able to grab a talented UMass defenseman in the 5th round of the 2019 NHL Draft in Marc Del Gaizo. Del Gaizo had a stellar freshman season recording 29 points and scoring the OT winner to send the Minutemen to the national championship game against Minnesota Duluth. During that season, Del Gaizo played alongside current NHL players like Cale Makar, Mario Ferraro, and John Leonard. He’s now in his junior season and is the teams assistant captain. He has dealt with some injury troubles along the way, but he’s solidified himself as an asset to the special teams units and the team as a whole.
It’s been really impressive to see how successful Nashville has been drafting and developing defensemen over the years. When you also look around at teams like Montreal, Columbus, and Colorado and see Nashville roots it’s even more impressive. It’s a testament to Nashville’s management, scouting staff, player development personnel, and the players themselves. Their ability to strike gold early in the first round as well as outside of it is no doubt a key factor in the organizations continual playoff appearances.
