They Said It: Returning Preds Players Recap Day 2 of Training Camp

For the Nashville Predators, a lot feels different about this year’s training camp. 

The team has a new general manager in Barry Trotz; head coach in Andrew Brunette; a new assistant coach in Derek McKenzie; a new training camp locale in Ford Ice Center Bellevue; and several new faces on the roster. It’s the first time in the organization’s 25-year history that there has been this much change from one season to the next – but there’s no time to dwell on the past.

“Changes are inevitable in this league,” forward Colton Sissons said. “There’s no time to idle; you’ve got to be pushing forward and trying to get better all the time… It's tough, but it gives you a new opportunity with fresh faces and new blood in the lineup with a new coach and system and GM, and we're all just super excited. A fresh start is nice once in a while.”

Perhaps no one can appreciate the impact of these organizational changes better than those who have seen them through from the beginning in 2022-23. Here’s what Sissons and his fellow returning Preds teammates Cole Smith and Dante Fabbro had to say on day two of training camp:

On the first scrimmage of camp on Friday:

Smith: “It was good. It’s fast-paced. It's kind of reckless abandon to start, and I think that's a good thing. People are out there working hard, trying to kind of settle into our systems here a little bit… I think it's going to be a fast game for us this year, both sides going up and down and ice. So, it was a tough scrimmage because there's a lot of skating up and down, and it’s important how hard we work there.”

On the new system under Head Coach Andrew Brunette:

Smith: “I think it's really good. He's bringing a lot of freshness here [with] the pace of play we're going to be playing with this year. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I think you can tell, if you're watching any of our practices and the scrimmages there, that we're going to be getting up and down the ice, working for the puck… So, we're going to be flying up and down the ice. I think that's kind of our goal, to play fast.”

Sissons: “We learned yesterday pretty quickly how fast he wants us to play. Just about every drill, we're sprinting up and down the ice; so the pace was high. I think our heart rates were ticking pretty good. We did a good job preparing in the summer, our skates were great, and we're looking forward to it. The system should be fun, but you’ve got to win hockey games to have fun.”

Fabbro: “It’s been awesome. With his new systems he's implementing, I think it's going to allow us to play super fast, really direct, allow for us to have a lot of creative freedom upfront… Every day is kind of adding a new layer, whether it's O-zone, D-zone or neutral zone. Obviously, it's a learning curve, but I think we've done a pretty good job in the last two days here trying to understand and comprehend what he wants out of us.”

On the offseason additions of veterans Ryan O’Reilly, Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist:

Smith: “With the new coaching staff and new players, the freshness is always good. I think you get new faces in the locker room, and things are a little bit lighter. We’ve got a good mixture of old guys and young guys. I think the old guys that we brought in are veterans that have been well established; they know what's going on. And for our young guys, that's huge – to just be able to look at that leadership. We’ve got some really, really good young guys. You can tell the skill that they have, and as they grow, I think they're going to be really good players.”

Sissons: “We've [added] some great players like O'Reilly and Schenn, guys that have won Stanley Cups so it's always impressive to watch those guys and how they take care of themselves and things that they work on. They’re true professionals and can teach me, someone who has been around a little while, a lot of things; so it's not it's not only the young guys and the rookies that are learning from that experience.”

On building chemistry while also competing for roster spots:

Fabbro: “It doesn't happen overnight. You can see just the camaraderie around the rink amongst our groups… So I think everyone's pretty familiar with each other now. I’m still trying to get to know some guys, but the camaraderie has been great so far. I think everyone feels at home… It’s hard to sit and chill; everyone's pushing for jobs, but I think everyone's done a great job so far in showcasing what they can bring in and  how they can get to the next level.”

Smith: “Anytime there's a clean slate, I think that's important. Everybody's earned their job – especially in this league, nothing's a given. So I think that's important for everybody. It doesn't matter how established you are, how new you are; as long as you're coming up with a clean slate, you’ve got things to prove and opportunities… I'm here to prove who I am and what I can do, and I think that's good for everybody. I think it just brings the execution level of everybody up, and everybody's desire to try to make this NHL squad.”