Nashville Predators: 3 Bold Predictions for the 2022 Preseason

Carrying the Momentum from the Prospect Showcase

It was a very productive Prospect Showcase for the Nashville Predators as they went 2-0-1 and capped it off with a resounding 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers prospects.

We’re going to see a lot of these same prospects perform with a lot of ice time in the preseason. Can a prospect or two play well enough to earn a roster spot on the Nashville Predators out of training camp?

Some key prospects who played well at the showcase that will be playing in the preseason are Egor Afanasyev, Juuso Parssinen, Markus Nurmi, Luke Evangelista, Spencer Stastney, and Yaroslav Askarov.

This core group of players, among others, will carry their positive results from the showcase into the preseason. In particular, I’m fully expecting Afanasyev to have a strong preseason and get a lot of ice time.

Askarov needs at least one or two starts to see where he’s at in his development against NHL competition. Expectations should be tempered if he gets lit up a couple times, but it’s still important to get his preseason reps in.

Parssinen, along with Afanasyev, is getting really close to being NHL-ready. So he should also get plenty of ice time in the preseason and has an outside chance to earn himself an NHL roster spot out of training camp.

Defensively, Stastney is quickly emerging as the top defensive prospect in the system. He looked very smooth in his skating during the showcase, so look for him to play a big role in the preseason.

My final bold prediction for the preseason is this collective core group of top prospects will carry over their momentum from the showcase into the preseason and snag a couple exhibition wins for the Nashville Predators.