Every year, the Nashville Predators try to find a game-changing forward in the draft.
Brady Martin finished fifth last year. Two years ago, Egor Surin was ranked 22nd. Matthew Wood finished 15th the year before.
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In eight of the last nine drafts, the Predators have drafted a forward with their first pick. The only exception is 2020 goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.
But that may change this year.
“This happens to be one of those years where there’s a lot of top defensive players,” scouting director Jeff Kealty said on May 13.
Kilty didn’t commit to a specific stance when speaking to the media at Bridgestone Arena, but acknowledged that this year’s defense will be hard to ignore.
“(They) have a lot of the attributes that we talk about and can be projected as a top-four type of (back),” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out, but there’s definitely going to be a lot of defense.”
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Why the Predators might select a defensive player with the 10th overall pick
Last year, the New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer No. 1 overall. He scored 23 goals and 36 assists and won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.
But after Schafer, only two of the top 10 picks were defensive players, and only four of the top 20 picks were defensive players. The Predators selected Cameron Reed with the 21st overall pick, the fifth defensive player in the draft.
This year should be very different. Elite Prospects ranked five defenders in the top 10 and eight in the top 20 in April:
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Third Place: Chase Reid (Soo Greyhounds)
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Fourth place: Carson Carles (Prince George Cougars)
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6th place: Xavier Villeneuve (Blanville-Boisbriand fleet)
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9th: Alberts Smits (Jukurit)
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No. 10: Dexon Rudolph (Prince Albert Raiders)
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No. 11: Keaton Verhoff (North Dakota State)
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12th place: Malte Gustafsson (HV71)
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No. 19: Ryan Lin (Vancouver Giants)
The Predators selected him with the 10th overall pick, and head amateur scout Tom Nolan also said the team may be leaning in that direction.
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“It’s a very deep draft in the top 15 for defensemen,” Nolan said on May 13. “They all bring different types of skills, but they all have size and they’re both really good skaters. We’re hoping maybe one of them will fall into our hands.”
Rudolf and Verhoff are two names to watch. Rudolph is a 6-foot-2, 203-pound right-handed defenseman with excellent offensive skills. He had 28 goals and 50 assists in 68 games with Prince Albert and nine goals and 14 assists in 15 playoff games. Verhoff also has good size (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) and had six goals and 14 assists during his freshman season at North Dakota State.
The Predators’ top prospects on defense include Reed, Tanner Molendyk (No. 24 in 2023) and Ryan Ufko (No. 115 in 2021), but all three are lanky defensemen at 6 feet or under. They could use a little more beef on the back end, and both Rudolph and Verhoff fit that description.
Alex Daugherty is a writer on The Tennessean and Predators. Contact Alex: jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our exclusive Predators Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
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This article originally appeared in The Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators set sights on No. 10 defenseman in 2026 NHL Draft
