With the Nashville Predators not playing playoff games this year, General Manager Barry Trotz will be looking at the 2025 NHL Draft coming up. With three picks in the first round, he will surely be busy on draft night.
Experts, including Corey Pronman of The Athletic, are already looking forward to finding out who the Nashville Predators covet. Let's take a look at how he projects the first round for Nashville. Of course, the official draft order is unknown, so the order will be based on standings in the regular season.
#3 Overall: Caleb Desnoyers (C)
Caleb Desnoyers just wrapped up an incredible season in the QMJHL with the Moncton Wildcats. In 56 games, he scored 35 goals and 84 points total. In his article, Pronman describes him as a player who "is not flashy but makes a ton of great plays and has a well-rounded game built for pro hockey,".
A well-rounded player measuring at 6'2" sounds like the type of player Trotz would love to coach, and likely the type he will want to draft. The Preds have needed a true number one center for years, and with solid ability on both sides of the puck, he could develop into just that.
Stefano Rubino also wrote a scouting report on Desnoyers for The Hockey Writers. In his report, he reinforces Pronman's points of a well-rounded game.
Rubino says of Desnoyers' skating that he "is an exceptional skater" and that skating ability helps in "making him effective in forechecking and defensive coverage".
Trotz has mentioned a want for more speed in the lineup, and Desnoyers' quick acceleration due to his skating ability fits the bill.
#26 Overall: Braeden Cootes (C)
Of this pick, Pronman says, "Nashville keeps stacking center depth in this draft,". Which, realistically, is not a bad approach and one Trotz will likely take if he can't find a good Defender to add to another pipeline position of weakness.
With the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL this year, Cootes had 63 points in 60 games, just over a point-per-game. Pronman describes Cootes as "a reliable center with a good motor and some offense,". He's a player whose best talent is his hockey IQ and his ability to outwork opponents.
After a rough season, the Preds will want to re-establish the hardworking culture Nashville used to be known for, and this prospect embodies it.
#30 Overall: Mason West (C)
Mason West is a giant measuring in at 6'6". With the raw physical tools to be a weapon, Pronman believes he has the skating and skill as well to project as being a "long-term project with high upside".
Trotz has said before he wants to take some swings in the first round, and West could be a good one to take. Playing his high school hockey in Minnesota, he scored 49 points in 31 games while adding nine points in 10 USHL games. West has a lot of tools that general managers and coaches would covet, and it would be valuable to add a player with his tools to the center pipeline.
Final Thoughts
Getting Desnoyers would be good for the Preds, and if it isn't him, it will need to be another Center.
The Preds crave a number one center, and that early pick, wherever it ends up after the lottery, will be the best path to it. It's hard to see the Preds opting to use all three picks on centers, however.
For a prospect cupboard that's relatively bare of high-end D prospects, one would think a pick will be used to select a defender in the first.
Other options for Trotz could include moving one of these picks and not even making a selection. With the team needing immediate help, it isn't out of the question that a later first is moved to bring some in.