Nashville Predators: Ranking the Best Draft Classes in Team History

A future Norris winner and Captain is drafted

You’re never going to hit on every draft pick you make in any draft class. That’s obvious, but you definitely want to draft a franchise-changing player every year. You never want a completely wasted draft.

Nashville Predators

This is why I put the 2008 draft class into my top-five draft classes in Nashville Predators history. Roman Josi, who is now the top player on this team and arguably the best defenseman in the NHL, was drafted in the 2nd round at 38th overall.

The Predators ended up being very fortunate that Josi wasn’t taken sooner as they had two picks already, and screwed up rather badly on one of them by taking goaltender Chet Pickard.

Josi already has one Norris Trophy under his belt, and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t win another one at some point in his career. He takes over plays and creates offensive rushes that very few players can do.

Then you have Colin Wilson who was taken in the first round that year. Another solid pick for a player that proved to be very critical to the postseason as the Predators were trying to get over that first round hump.

The rest of the draft class is pretty weak, but I don’t want to overlook the selection of Anders Lindback in the 7th round. He never made his impact on the NHL level, but proved to be a very important goaltender for the farm system.