Nashville Predators have something special in rookie Matthew Wood

The Nashville Predators have been on a roll as of late. Winning seven of their last ten games, a handful of players have stood out as primetime performers for the team. The top guns are finding their looks again, but the main highlight is the spectacular shows put on by the youth group game after game. One of these important youngsters is winger Matthew Wood.

Wood, 20, has only found the net twice and notched an assist two times but the real deal is beyond the scoresheet. The British Columbia native is one of Nashville top two-way players, something rarely displayed at his age. It isn't too crazy to say that without Wood, the Predators wouldn't be where they're at now.

Nashville Hasn't Seen Such a Rookie Performance Since Tanner Jeannot

Not too long ago, Tanner Jeannot was one of the top performers on the Nashville Predators. In his rookie campaign during the 2021-22 season, the Oxbow Ox scored 24 goals and assisted on 17 for 41 points in 81 games. He was a strong contender for the Calder Trophy, ultimately being awarded to Red Wings defender Moritz Seider. Four seasons out, Jeannot is now with the Boston Bruins after a long series of trades between Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.

Flashing back to present day, Nashville might have another Jeannot-scenario but this time in Wood, he's here to stay. At an 82-game rate, Wood is on pace to overachieving Jeannot in the almost every department. If he began the season without an injury, he would finish with around 26 goals and nearly 46 points. Talk about a star in the making.

The main difference between him and Jeannot is their age. Wood is only 20 and when Jeannot began showing promising signs, he was 24. He is ahead the ballgame and has a longer time to develop into something good.

Jeannot is also more of a physical piece, racking up 130 penalty minutes (mainly from fighting) in that same season. Wood is also a smidge on the physical side of things, laying the body 18 times. Sure, Jeannot is more willing to fight for you, but Wood makes up for it with his defense.

Per MoneyPuck, Wood is slightly better than Jeannot in the defensive zone. Jeannot on average gave away the puck in his zone once every five games. In Wood's case, he only gives it up once every 20-or-so games. When it comes to blocked shots however, Jeannot blocks 0.8 per game while Wood only blocks 0.4. They both have different playstyles but it's Wood who produces on a better level.

Wood is a Driving Force on the Predators' Offense

He hasn't been as hot offensively, as mentioned previously, but he's still setting up plays and making sure they get finished. In a 7-2 win against the St. Louis Blues last week, Wood set up Steven Stamkos for a beautiful coast-to-coast goal. Rather than shooting on the right wing, Wood dishes the puck over to Stammer who gets his own rebound and slips one past Blues goalie Jordan Binnington.

Here's the goal in case you forgot.

Later in the game, linemate Fedor Svechkov gets tangled between a couple white shirts behind the net and Wood steals the puck and longshots it to Nicolas Hague to position on the blueline. Once it's rotated over to Roman Josi, Wood quickly moves in between the goalie and the puck to create a slot. Once Josi shoots, Wood tips the puck over to Stamkos once again, scoring his fourth of the night.

He ensures that he's in the right place at the right time by reading the play and taking note of his teammate's playstyles. Wood knows when it's time to move and when he should shoot, as shown by his expected goals being right on the dot so far.

If the team is indeed turning a page going into 2026, Wood is going to play a big part in it.