Jeff Kealty is plenty aware of what’s on the menu for the 2023 NHL Draft, which will be held June 28-29 at Bridgestone Arena.
The Nashville Predators assistant general manager/director of scouting and his staff have spent plenty of time during the past 10 months or so scouring the globe for talent the team can use on its 13 picks in this year’s draft.
With the 15th overall pick in the first round, Kealty doesn’t suspect the Predators will be left with table scraps in what many consider to be a top-heavy draft. The Chicago Blackhawks, who won the draft lottery Monday night, are all but certain to choose 17-year-old center Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick. Bedard is arguably the most hyped prospect since Connor McDavid, who has made the Edmonton Oilers a Stanley Cup contender.
Why Nashville Predators see depth in 2023 NHL Draft
Michigan center Adam Fantilli likely will go second to the Anaheim Ducks.
After that, things become less predictable.
“Especially in a year like this, it’s like going into a high-end restaurant,” Kealty said of the first few picks. “You want steak or you want salmon? Our job is to try to find that guy we think is going to become something in the future.”
Though not impossible, Kealty doesn’t anticipate finding the franchise-changing center at 15 that incoming general manager Barry Trotz said the team has never had and desperately needs. That won’t stop the Predators from trying, though. And it won’t change their philosophy of choosing the best player available, Kealty said.
“There’s going to be all different types (of players) available,” Kealty said. “At 15, if he was identified as franchise-changing, he wouldn’t be going 15th. But that’s our job, to try to see through it and try to project.
“There will be a lot of players available to us at that point, that we view as guys that can really develop. We always try to say that you want to try to outdraft the spot that you’re in.”
Kealty pointed to the 2003 draft, also held in Nashville, as one example. The Predators had 13 picks in that draft. They used the seventh overall pick on defenseman Ryan Suter and the 49th pick on defenseman and former captain Shea Weber.
There are other examples of the Predators “outdrafting” their spot: Pekka Rinne in the eighth round in 2004, Mattias Ekholm in the fourth round in 2009, Roman Josi in the second round in 2008, Juuse Saros in the fourth round in 2014.
“There’s an established top of the draft,” Kealty said. “Then there’s a break from there, but we still feel the depth of it is good through to where we pick.”
Predators have 13 NHL draft picks — which means trade capital
In addition to the 15th overall pick, the Predators have another first-round pick, two second-round picks, three third-round picks, three fourth-round picks, two fifth-round picks and one sixth-round pick.
Predators chief amateur scout Tom Nolan said the team’s abundance of draft capital could allow the team to speed up the process of taking a step forward, a vision outgoing general manager David Poile discussed in early March.
“We’re all talking about kind of a retool, and we can really put a stamp, kind of fast forward this in the next two years and really get some guys who can help our program,” Nolan said.
Having 13 picks doesn’t necessarily mean the Predators will use all of them. They could opt to trade some of those picks to move up or down this year or add to their draft capital in coming years.
“You can do a lot of different things,” Kealty said. “You can move up. Maybe we’ll look to move some other picks further down the road if you don’t like who you’re seeing on your list.
“We want to use the whole draft.”
STEAL OF A DEAL: Predators have mined gems in late rounds of NHL Draft
EVALUATION TIME: Nashville Predators’ Barry Trotz discusses John Hynes’ job status: ‘I’m going to evaluate it’
OH, CONNOR: NHL Draft 2023 first round order: Chicago Blackhawks at No. 1, Nashville Predators at No. 15
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators in 2023 NHL draft: Unpacking their strategy at 15
