2024 Draft Picks, Top Prospects Included on Predators Rookie Showcase Roster

It's time to bring on the rookies.

Starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. CT, a full roster of the Nashville Predators’ top prospects will convene at Ford Ice Center Bellevue for the team’s annual Rookie Camp and the subsequent 2024 NHL Rookie Showcase presented by Ticketmaster, which Nashville is set to host for the first time since 2019.

With plenty of promising, young talent due to arrive in the Music City soon and each of the week’s practices and exhibitions open to the public - click here to get Rookie Showcase tickets - below are some of the faces you can expect to see participating in Predators Gold. Click here to view the full roster.

We Can Be Sphere-oes

Three of Nashville’s picks at the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas will return for Rookie Camp after getting acquainted with their NHL club earlier this summer at Development Camp.

Look for offensive talents from third-round picks and WHL compatriots Miguel Marques (87th overall, Lethbridge Hurricanes) and Hiroki Gojsic (94th overall, Kelowna Rockets) before turning your gaze toward fourth-rounder Jakub Milota between the pipes (99th overall, QMJHL Cape Breton Eagles).

Marques led his Hurricanes club in scoring during the 2023-24 campaign, tallying 74 points (28g-46a) in 67 games, a 54-point increase from his rookie season. The 5-foot-11, 187-pound forward has posted 100 points (38g-62a) in 136 career WHL contests since debuting as a 15-year-old in 2021-22.

Gojsic ranked fifth among his Rockets teammates in scoring during his rookie WHL campaign, recording 50 points (21g-29a) in 68 games and five assists in 11 postseason outings. Gojsic additionally recorded 12 multi-point games in 2023-24, including a career-high four-point effort on April 2 at Spokane (3g-1a).

The only goaltending prospect taken by the Predators at the 2024 draft, Milota was named to the QMJHL’s Rookie All-Star Team in 2023-24 after recording an 18-11-1 record, 2.82 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and three shutouts in 33 games. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound netminder also represented his native Czechia in the 2024 U-18 World Championship and earned silver at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

The New Guys

Four members of Nashville’s camp roster will be making their Predators Rookie Camp debuts after landing with the team during the 2023-24 campaign.

A trade deadline pickup in 2024, Jeremy Hanzel returns to the Music City after a productive introductory Development Camp. The 6-foot-1, 201-pound defenseman made his professional debut this year in five late regular season games and one postseason outing with Nashville’s AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals after producing at nearly a point-per-game pace (17g-43a in 66 GP) with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. For his efforts, the blueliner was named to the league’s Second All-Star Team.

Officially landing in the Predators system this June after a trade with San Jose, forward Ozzy Wiesblatt will look to distinguish himself during his first full season with the Admirals. The Sharks’ first-round pick (31st overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft, Wiesblatt put up six points (1g-5a) in 16 regular-season appearances on loan with Milwaukee season before adding nine points (2g-7a) in 15 postseason contests, including a five-game point streak (5a) from May 10-22.

Much attention will naturally fall on young netminder Magnus Chrona, who landed with the Predators late last month in a different trade with San Jose. The bulk of Chrona’s playing time last season came with San Jose of the AHL, where he went 6-17-6 with a 3.49 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 31 games for the Barracuda. Appearing in nine contests with the Sharks last season, Chrona is the only member of Nashville’s Rookie Camp roster with NHL experience.

Forward Jordan Frasca arrived in Nashville after a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Predators forward Cody Glass. Frasca spent the majority of 2023-24 with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers, setting career highs in games played (40), goals (11), assists (22) and points (33). The 6-foot-2, 190-pound forward tied for seventh on Wheeling in assists and was tied for ninth in goals, helping lead the Nailers to the second round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs. He also appeared in three contests for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate.

Rounding out this group is offseason trade acquisition Andrew Gibson, who established OHL career highs in games played (68), goals (12), assists (32) and points (44) with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2023-24. The blueliner flashed his two-way capabilities during Nashville’s Future Stars Game, netting the tying goal for his team with five minutes remaining in regulation, then potting another impressive marker during the game’s final shootout.

First-Round Picks

2021 first-round pick Fedor Svechkov (19th overall) looked right at home as he made the transition from Russian to North American professional hockey last year, recording 39 points (16g-23a) in the first 57 regular season games of his AHL career, then 12 more (6g-6a) in his first 15 postseason appearances, including a three-point performance (2g-1a) against the Firebirds in Game 4. The 21-year-old Togliatti, Russia, native not only garnered an impressive number of points during his postseason debut, but a choice compliment from Admirals Head Coach Karl Taylor to match.

In a few short weeks, 2022 first-round pick Joakim Kemell (17th overall) will begin his third North American professional campaign. The 20-year-old continued to trend in the right direction during his sophomore pro campaign and finished fourth in scoring among his Admirals teammates with 41 points (16g-25a) in 67 games. He managed a one-point improvement over last year’s postseason, recording three goals and eight assists in an 11-game march to the Calder Cup Playoffs’ Western Conference Final.

Fellow 2021 first-rounder Zach L’Heureux (27th overall) also impressed during his pro debut last season and concluded the 2023-24 campaign second among his teammates in points (48), goals (19) and assists (29). The 21-year-old power forward ratcheted up his scoring ability when it mattered most - by the time the American Hockey League’s two conference final series ended, L’Heureux was still leading the pack in points (15), goals (10), shorthanded goals (2) and, of course, penalty minutes (62).

Though Edmonton Oilers’ first-round pick Reid Schaefer (2022, 32nd overall) didn’t light up the scoreboard the way he did in the Western Hockey League - the forward put up 21 points (7g-14a) in his first 63 professional appearances - he contributed plenty for Milwaukee when the games mattered most. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound power forward pitched in key minutes on Milwaukee’s special teams units and concluded his first postseason run with a +5 rating to show for, the second-best among his teammates.

He may be the only member of this group without AHL experience, but don’t count that against defensive prospect and 2023 first-rounder Tanner Molendyk (24th overall). Molendyk served as alternate captain for the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and established career highs in points (56), goals (10), assists (46), power-play goals (2) and plus-minus (+40), despite appearing in the fewest games since making his WHL debut in 2020-21.

Young Professionals

Twenty-one-year-old defenseman Ryan Ufko turned plenty of heads when he arrived in the Admirals’ locker room in the waning days of the 2023-24 campaign. Finishing the first nine games of his professional career with six points (1g-5a), Ufko would continue to shine for Milwaukee in the postseason, recording 10 points (1g-9a) in his first 15 Calder Cup Playoffs appearances, the most among Admirals defensemen.

In his rookie North American pro campaign, 2021 fourth-round pick Jack Matier (124th overall) spent 16 games with the Admirals in the American League before ultimately spending the bulk of his year with Nashville’s ECHL affiliate, the Atlanta Gladiators, where he had 17 points (6g-11a) in 52 games.

2019 third-round pick Alexander Campbell joined the Admirals down the stretch - and for a brief four-game stint in the postseason - after concluding his final collegiate season with Northeastern University. Producing at more than a point per game pace in his debut season with the Huskies (42pts-22g-20a in 36 GP), Campbell could prove an interesting addition to Milwaukee’s roster in his first full-length pro campaign.