With the 2024-25 season all but over for the Nashville Predators, it is time for Head Coach Andrew Brunette to hand the reins over to some younger players.
With several veterans moved out at the deadline, like Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyquist, General Manager Barry Trotz has opened some roster spots for others to gain playing time. It would be in this team's best interest to give that ice time to some younger players and embrace a bit of a youth movement.
Luke Evangelista
After a successful rookie season in which former London Knight Luke Evangelista scored 16 goals and 39 points, a bit of a step forward was expected. In an 80-game season for the young winger, he finished ninth in Calder voting in 2023-24. This year, however, he finds himself with 19 points in 50 games, down slightly from last year's pace.
To jump-start Evangelista's game, Brunette moved him up to the top line with Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly. He has scored three points in his last three games and seen an increase in his ice time each game in that span. Topping out at over 18 minutes TOI in an overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks.
With his most common center, Tommy Novak, being moved, it looks like the Predators have found him a new line. It will be important to continue giving him important minutes to help build chemistry into next year. Perhaps if the team starts next season without the line blending we saw every other game early this one, a better start can be had.
Spencer Stastney
Defenseman Spencer Stastney saw a few games in the NHL last season, ending the year with many penciling him in as a member of the Pred's blueline this year. Unfortunately, a personal issue held him out of the lineup for much of the year. Thankfully, he was able to return to action and started with a brief stint in the AHL to get back up to speed. With 13 points in 23 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, it was clear he was ready.
In his last three games, Stastney is skating over 18 minutes per night on the back end. In that time, he's also put up two points and is seeing a ton of time on the penalty kill. The penalty kill stopped all three attempts the Blackhawks had on the powerplay this weekend.
In that same game against the Blackhawks, Stastney got some important minutes in overtime with Stamkos and Fedor Svechkov. During these minutes, he made a nifty drop pass to Svechkov, who ultimately set up Stamkos on the game-winning shot. A great play by a young player hoping to earn a spot on next year's blueline full time.
Fedor Svechkov
There weren't many bright spots in this gloomy season for the Predators. If fans want to cling to one thing, though, it could be the play of Svechkov. It is no secret Nashville has struggled to develop forwards, especially at center. After shipping out other centers, they tried to develop like Phil Tomasino or Novak, there could have rightfully been fear that the 2021 first-round picks story could end the same way.
With 10 points in his first 33 career games, Svechkov has demonstrated good offensive skills. In the game against the Blackhawks, he skated in career high time on ice, as well as shorthanded time on ice. While scoring six goals, he has also demonstrated good two-way instincts, earning him a bigger role. He set up the game-winner perfectly, teeing it up for a patented Stammer one-timer.
Who Get's The Call Next?
There are certainly a few other interesting young players the organization should take a look at. This weekend against the Hawks, Trotz joined Willy Daunic and Chris Mason on the Home broadcast and mentioned a couple specifically. Two players currently playing for the Milwaukee Admirals Reid Schaefer and Joakim Kemell.
Reid Schaefer was a prospect received in the trade sending longtime Pred Mattias Ekholm to the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, he has appeared in 82 AHL games and scored 35 points. With 14 of those points coming in 19 games this season after an injury held him out early this year, he appears to be making big steps. We know how Trotz values his "serial winners," so it's of no shock that he wants to give the young World Junior Gold Medalist and WHL Champion a tryout.
Joakim Kemell is a Finnish goal scorer who was drafted in the first round in 2022, seventeenth overall. A "Finnish with finish," he has 35 goals and 86 points in 131 career AHL games. These impressive totals earned him two games in the NHL this year, a brief look in which he wasn't able to score. With a team already struggling to score this year, he deserves another shot with some real ice time. If he can end this year with NHL experience before the AHL playoffs, he could win a spot out of training camp next year.
With a few more young names on the roster also fighting for a spot, like Marc Del Gaizo or the currently injured Zachary L'Heureux, it will be important for Brunette to find them all ice time. Trotz has to see what he has on this team before he can fix it for next year. With a lot of the big ticket deals on the books for years to come, now is the time to infuse the lineup with some young players on cheaper rookie deals.