With NHL Scouting Combine Now Complete, Preds Shift Focus to Final Preparations Ahead of NHL Draft

Technically, a prospect’s journey with the Predators begins when the team calls their name at the NHL Draft and presents a jersey - the first step in realizing a dream.

However, for a few players, one could argue that the adventure with Nashville instead began this past week in a mostly quiet, mostly dark NHL arena in Buffalo.

No, the Preds don’t have 75 selections in the upcoming Draft to be held later this month in Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop them from interviewing a majority of the top 90 NHL prospects in attendance at the 2025 NHL Scouting Combine in western New York.

The individual sessions themselves only last for about 15 minutes, but those first interactions with Preds scouts and management can lay the groundwork for a fruitful relationship on and off the ice. That’s exactly part of the goal of the Combine - to get to know the players on a more personal level and provide the Preds with the full picture of exactly who they’ll be picking at No. 5 in the first round of the Draft.

“It's a little bit like a finishing touch aspect to it,” Preds Assistant General Manager/Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty said of the Combine. “Our scouts work so hard, going back to last summer, all the trips and long miles - the effort just to get to the places to see all these guys, and you can see the work that goes into that… You get to this point, and like I said, a lot of it is done, but there's still kind of like that finishing off aspect to it… There’s only a couple weeks to go before the Draft, so you’ve got to be done with your preparations soon.”

That’s exactly where the Preds are in their timeline, and with the Combine now complete, they’ll head home to Nashville to finish preparing for what is arguably the most important Draft the organization has had in over a decade.

Not only does Nashville own the fifth overall selection, but they’re also scheduled to pick at No. 23 and No. 26 in the first round before another pick comes at No. 35 in round two.

With those selections, the Preds are bound to add some high-level prospects to their repertoire, especially at No. 5 with a wealth of players available who could one day turn into star NHLers.

“We’re going to get a really good player,” Preds Chief Amateur Scout Tom Nolan said of the fifth selection. “We’ve gone out to dinner with a lot of the guys in that range, and we're going to get a really good character-type guy. We’ll get a good player.”

“The Top 10 or so are very good players,” Kealty said. “Lots of different types of players. Great character amongst all those guys, which is what you want, obviously, as well. You’re hoping that you get not only a great player, but a real leader and culture player for your organization for a long time, and I think that we're in a good spot to get that.”

Time will tell exactly who that will end up being, but if the interviews have told the Preds anything, it’s that these teenagers are already wise well beyond their years. Couple that with their tremendous skill and hockey sense, and there’s reason for optimism no matter which direction Nashville takes with the pick.

“They’re very well polished, and I think the thing that's impressive is that they’re very genuine,” Kealty said of the top prospects. “That’s probably another goal of these interviews, to be able to get them into a setting where you can have a good conversation and talk about different things, but we want them to be comfortable, so that's kind of where their real personalities come out. It’s been a good week that way.”

And even if the Predators don’t have the opportunity to select a player they’re high on at the moment, that doesn’t mean the chance won’t come back around. In recent years, the Predators have acquired high draft picks such as forwards David Edstrom and Reid Schaefer, as well as defenseman Andrew Gibson, via trades. Therefore, interviews like the ones conducted this past week in Buffalo get bookmarked and could be referred back to in the months and years ahead if the chance is there.

“Those types of players, we’ve clearly liked them in their Draft seasons and the Draft process, but we interviewed them closely at the time because we were in a spot where maybe we thought we'd be able to draft them,” Kealty said. “When they're still young and in another team's organization, it's fresh in your mind and maybe you get a chance to acquire these guys, that information comes in really handy.”

For now though, the Preds will be focusing on their own selections, fine-turning their list and ensuring they do everything they can to pick a player who will one day become a household name.

The Combine assists greatly in those efforts, and while the Predators don’t always want to be picking in the Top 5 of the Draft, they’re embracing the opportunity that lies ahead.

“If you aren't able to embrace that and kind of get excited about that, then you’re probably in the wrong business,” Kealty said of the chance to pick fifth. “It’s no different than playing a big game. If you're scared of the big game, then you shouldn't be playing. So, I think that everybody looks at it that way, and it's a good opportunity. Everybody’s done a lot of work that goes into this, and we're determined to make it pay off.”