You now know who the Nashville Predators took last night. Three prospects, to be exact. Now that the picks have been made and news and reactions circulated throughout the evening and Saturday morning, what did some of the top experts think?
Hannah Stuart over at Bleacher Report had an excellent take on Brady Martin, giving the pick an A-minus. Hannah said, "I said before that Brady Martin "is going to both bless and stress whatever NHL team drafts him," and I stand by that. That being said, Nashville Predators fans: you are going to absolutely love Martin. He never quits, as is evidenced by the fact that he isn't even at the draft—he's at home on the farm doing his farm chores. All work ethic all day long, and a ton of smarts to go with it."
Some might call Martin a reach, but I was ecstatic to see the Predators make such a bold move. That said, I agree 1,000 percent with Hannah's take. I'm someone who'll respect an individual so much more when they go to work on a farm as opposed to taking in all the glamor Los Angeles, California offers on one of the biggest nights of their lives.
That alone showed me a lot about Martin's character, and if given the choice, I would've done the same. I'd be much happier on a farm than in a big city any day, and it's cool to see an NHL Draft prospect going in that same direction.
What about the second and third picks in the first round?
It's easy to get all pumped up over Martin, but there were still two other picks in the first round. Hannah Stuart gave the Cameron Reid pick a B-plus, and the Ryker Lee pick a B-minus. Mary Clarke of USA Today was also rather impressed, giving the Reid pick a B.
Clarke remarked, "An offensive defenseman to his core, Reid has flashes of some real playmaking skill from the back end. That's not to say Reid doesn't have defense in his blood, but the Predators are getting a player here with some versatility on the blue line."
I like what Clarke said about Reid's offensive-defenseman prowess, and I thought the same when watching Reid's film earlier this month. If the Predators didn't pick Brady Martin at No. 5, Reid may've been my favorite pick from the Preds last night.
Like Stuart, Clarke gave the Ryker Lee pick a B-minus, saying, "Lee is a creative forward with a dynamic playstyle and a bevy of high-end tools to work with. The biggest knock on Lee is is skating, but that can be worked on in the years to come."
Something tells me Lee's skating will be just fine once he's ready to roll in the NHL. His creativity was one reason I called Lee a "massive steal" when I wrote up my reaction piece last night.
Nashville Predators created chaos in their prospect pool on Friday night
While the Preds continue to age in the NHL ranks, they're swiftly building their prospects pool. And while fans may grow impatient if the Predators flop again this season, it looks like Barry Trotz has a good system brewing. That said, it won't be long until the Predators are legit contenders again.
Still, we'd like to ideally see the Preds look like the team they were supposed to look like last year when the puck drops in October. If that happens, expect them to be relevant for a while as the younger guys jump onto the big club a few years from now.
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