The first Predators superstar is drafted
There’s no way I was going to leave out the draft class that included Shea Weber, a player who will always be right up there with Pekka Rinne as one of the all-time greats of the franchise.
Weber was drafted in the 2nd round at the 49th pick overall, and was the fourth player taken in that 2003 draft class by the Nashville Predators. His future defensive linemate Ryan Suter was taken in the firs round, followed by another defenseman in Kevin Klein at the 37th-overall pick.
The Predators had three 2nd-round picks in this draft, but had a blunder with one of them by drafting Konstantin Glazachev, who never logged NHL ice time.
Still, this draft class was fruitful as the franchise took on the persona of being a defensive-minded club that was hard to play against. Klein was underrated as he went on to have a very productive NHL career, and of course we know all about Suter and Weber.
These picks is are important ones for the Predators as they gradually were rising into being a perennial playoff team.