Preds Thrilled to Select Two Top Players in First Round of 2021 NHL Draft

The Predators entered the night knowing they were going to add one elite player to their organization, but by the time Round 1 of the 2021 NHL Draft was complete,
Nashville had a pair of top prospects
.
Friday evening saw the Preds select Russian center Fedor Svechkov with pick No. 19 in the Draft, and before the first round was out, Nashville had completed a trade to snag forward Zachary L'Heureux at No. 27 by sending picks 40 and 51 in this year's Draft to Carolina.
The deal was worth it for the Preds, and for just the second time in franchise history, Nashville ended the opening night of the Draft with a pair of first rounders as the infusion of youth into the organization continues.

"Very, very excited," Preds General Manager David Poile said of the results of Round 1. "It's always good to get the guys that you wanted to get. We had these guys both rated a lot lower than where we were able to pick them up. Svechkov…you're talking about getting a center iceman as offensive and as defensive in the way he's always been described to me, and what I've seen on the video is he looks like that complete type of player that can really play with top players. I really like his chances to develop into a really good center iceman for us. And with Zachary L'Heureux, a player we had rated very, very high that kept falling in the Draft; we paid a big price to get him, [two] second [round] picks, and I think that was a lot to do that, but I like the feeling as I sit here right now of having two first-round picks and getting two guys that we had rated in the top 15 of our draft."
The 18-year-old Svechkov was the sixth-rated European skater in NHL Central Scouting's pre-draft rankings and is the second consecutive Russian-born player selected in the first round by the Predators after the team picked goaltender Iaroslav Askarov at No. 11 overall in 2020.
The 6-foot, 179-pound forward spent most of the 2020-21 campaign with Lada Togliatti of the Russian second league, where he tallied 15 points (5g-10a) in 38 games; he also produced at a point-per-game pace for Togliatti's squad in the Russian junior league, tallying 15 points (4g-11a) in 15 contests.

Svechkov, who was awake to receive the good news in the early morning hours back home in Russia, called it "something special being part of the Nashville Predators."
"[I would say I'm a] playmaker and goal scorer, and I think I have good hockey sense," Svechkov said of his style of game. "I can play [as a] two-way forward, and I think I can be a good center with this wonderful team."
When asked to compare himself to a current NHL player, Svechkov replied: "I don't want to be similar like someone, I want to be myself."
That confidence was also exuded by the second player Nashville added later in the evening.
L'Heureux, also 18 years of age, is a product of the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads. During the 2020-21 campaign, the 5-foot-11, 196-pound forward was second among team skaters in points (39), goals (19) and penalty minutes (47) and was fourth in assists (20).

When Predators North American Amateur Scout J-P Glaude spoke of the decision to move up to draft L'Heureux in the first round, he revealed an answer given by the young prospect when Nashville management asked why they should pick him in the draft.
"He said, 'You should draft me because, take anyone in the Draft, if you put one puck in the corner, I'm going to [come out with] the puck. I'm going to win the battle,'" Glaude recalled. "There's not a lot of kids who would say that. That means a lot of Zach, and I trust the kid. I know he's going…to bring something to our organization [and make a] difference."
L'Heureux, who has drawn comparisons to Boston's Brad Marchand for his mix of skill and grit, knows he still has a long way to go to realize his dream of playing in the NHL one day, but Friday night brought him that much closer.
"It's really an honor to be drafted by such a great organization," L'Heureux said. "It's something that's pretty special and a sigh of relief for myself. It's been a long year, and being drafted to such a world-class organization - it's a great city, a great fan base - it's really something that is an honor for myself.
"I'm a strong power forward. I'm an extremely competitive guy, a guy who always wants to win his 50-50 battles, be first on the puck. Around the net is where a lot of my success comes from because that's where I get most of my opportunities. I think I'm a guy who can play in a lot of situations - the beginning, end of the period, power play, [penalty kill]; I'm a team-first guy."

In the case of Svechkov, Poile says the young Russian really caught Nashville's attention with his play at the U-18 World Championships earlier this year outside of Dallas, and he went quite high on the team's list. L'Heureux also earned high marks from Preds scouts as this past season went on, and as Glaude explained, the Montreal native gives the organization a number of elements they were looking for, attributes worth moving up for in Round 1.
"Zach brings something different to the game," Glaude said. "He's got a unique package, which is skills, he brings grit, character…he's not your typical skill guy. He's hard to play against, he'll be there for his teammates and protect them, he's tough; that's different for us, and that's why at the end of the day I think it brings culture to your team. These players are hard to find…and right now, we're pretty excited."
The Predators found two players they believe can become mainstays in Nashville soon enough, and now that the first round has been completed, the attention shifts to Saturday and Rounds 2-7 of the Draft. After trading away both second-round picks to move up and take L'Heureux, the Preds will enter the day holding five selections and five more chances to find some steals as the weekend continues.
"We'll see how it plays out, but if we did choose correctly with our first two picks, I think [we'll be pleased], Poile said. "[The fact that] we took these two guys, it feels like a good draft already."