Healthy, Rejuvenated Glass Looking Forward to Fresh Start with Preds

Had Cody Glass been acquired by the Predators in the midst of a regular season, he would've been expected to report to Nashville as soon as possible, perhaps even that same day.
In the summertime, there is no such requirement for a player who is traded from one team to the next, especially with training camp often months away from the time of the deal - but Glass isn't following that script.
The 22-year-old centerman - who became a member of the Preds as part of a pair of trades that saw Ryan Ellis sent to Philadelphia and Glass eventually coming back to Nashville from the Vegas Golden Knights - has already arrived in Tennessee, getting into town last week to become familiar with his new surroundings, among other tasks.

"I've just been looking up on the internet what to do and things to see in Nashville], so I'll probably just go down the list of everything that shows," Glass said recently with a laugh
[on Episode 138 of the Preds Official Podcast
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When he's not sightseeing, however, Glass will be focused on the main reason he's now a resident of the Music City.
Selected by Vegas sixth overall in the 2017 Draft, the Winnipeg native is looking forward to a fresh start with the Preds after spending the first three years of his professional career as a member of the Golden Knights organization.
During that time, Glass showed flashes of why Vegas made him their first-ever draft pick back in 2017. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound forward split time between the NHL (66gp, 9g-13a-22pts) and AHL (22gp, 8g-9a-17pts), most recently recording 10 points (4g-6a) in 27 games with Vegas and 10 points (4g-6a) in 14 games with Henderson during the 2020-21 campaign.
However, Glass has also dealt with knee injuries, including one that required surgery back in March of 2020, limiting his time on the ice in recent years. But now, he's healthy once more and ready to show that the Preds made the right decision to bring him into the organization.
"The NHL, it's a very different league [than the minors and juniors]," Glass said. "I've had my ups and downs, I've had a tough start, I went through surgery, so it's kind of a rocky road, but I felt like I've matured and it's just built off my character. I think I've just grown as a person as a whole moving forward, because I've been at the lowest part of my game and then I feel like I can just get to that high with a new, fresh start."

The Predators feel the same, and Nashville General Manager David Poile believes Glass has loads of promise as a young player who is still looking to establish himself as a full-time NHLer. Now, the Preds can't wait to give him that chance.
"I really feel [Glass] has the potential to be a really good center iceman in the National Hockey League, playing in the top two lines," Poile said. "He's still developing, he came off a knee injury about a year ago, and I think we're going to reap the rewards of a totally healthy Cody Glass. He was the number six pick in the Draft a few years ago, he's a highly coveted player, he plays a hard game, he's an all-around player, and I do think, offensively, that he's a player that's going to contribute in an area that we're going to need as we grow this team."
Glass, who says he's looking forward to the competition of his first training camp with the Predators, knows there will be much to be decided as far as the lineup is concerned. The ability to showcase his skillset in that setting is an enticing motivator as he continues to train, and a return to full health has given new life to a player who figures to have plenty to prove.
"I think the strongest point in my game is I play a strong, two-way game, and I like to think of myself as a pass-first type of player," Glass said. "And for me, obviously I can improve in strength, but the biggest thing for me is speed. Being a centerman, I've always loved to push the pace, but going through knee surgery and then gaining 12 pounds while doing it, I kind of lost my speed last year and I couldn't really handle it. So, for me, I have a full summer of being healthy, which is awesome, and this is the perfect opportunity for me to kind of showcase my skills and show everybody what I've got.
"I feel like the best part of my game is just my two-way game, and for [Poile] to say things like that, it just gives me that much more confidence. It makes me feel more comfortable coming into the system. It is scary going to a new team not knowing what to expect, so hearing things like that just makes me more comfortable. And for me, just going in there, I'm going to show the best I can and try to earn everything that I get there."
For now, Glass will continue to mix in some self-guided tours among the skates and training sessions, but come late September, he'll be ready for camp, perhaps more so than ever before.
And, of course, he's ecstatic for the chance to call Smashville home, just like so many other hockey players before him.
"I've never heard [a bad thing] about Nashville," Glass said. "I hear the fans are unbelievable, the organization's great, so hearing those kinds of things makes me a lot more confident going in over there. It's going to be a great experience, it's a fresh start, a new opportunity with a new team, and I'm really looking forward to that."