This is good news for the Predators, especially with the bulk of their picks coming in the third and fourth rounds. The word "depth" is used frequently to describe this year's draft. We feel there's a lot of talent, a lot of depth, and we have a lot of currency." Then down the road, there's different trades and certain things that you can do so that's the good news. And that's our job - to collect assets and build a team as best we can. No matter what we do, we've got to get the right players, good players, because they all become assets going forward. " it's more forward-heavy than it is defense-heavy, but there's a lot of players and we know they're all assets. "Every year is different with the players that are available to you, the depth of it, the different drop-offs and those sorts of things," Kealty said. That pattern is unlikely to change this year, given the plethora of high-end talent at the forward position in the 2023 draft class. The Preds haven't drafted a defenseman in the first round since they selected Dante Fabbro at No. The 15th pick isn't the third pick today, but the job is to try and find a player that we think will develop and become more than the 15th pick. And we always try to say that you want to try to out-draft the slot that you're in. "But that's our job - to try and see through it, to try to project, and I think there'll be a lot of players available to us at that point that we view as guys that can really develop. 15, if was identified as franchise-changing, he wouldn't still be there," Kealty said. Picking in the middle-third of the draft order presents a unique set of challenges for Kealty and his staff when it comes to drafting and developing future franchise players. Video: Assistant GM Jeff Kealty Talks 2023 NHL Draftīased on their record of 42-32-8 at the end of the 2022-23 season, the Predators will have their first of many picks in the first round at No. So there's definitely a level of excitement. Let's be ready to go work hard the rest of the way from a scouting standpoint the rest of the way through the season and then also into the spring and the meetings in the preparation as well. "I kind of just said, you see what's going on here so let's dial in. "When I was down here for the trade deadline, we were going along and I was texting the amateur ," Kealty said. Thanks in large part to their busy trade deadline, the Preds have amassed 13 picks in this year's draft - including two in the first round, two in the second round, three in the third round, three in the fourth round, two in the fifth round and one in the sixth round. So I think that we look at this as the same type of opportunity, and we're doing the work now so we'll be ready to go." If you look back 20 years ago, we had the draft here we really set ourselves up with Ryan Suter and Shea Weber going forward with that. We know that the opportunity is there over the next couple of years to really set ourselves up. "We've set things up pretty well for ourselves going forward here. "At the trade deadline, we kind of knew we were going in that direction with the picks and young players that we added," Kealty said. By "this," Kealty was referring to the sheer amount of draft capital the team has this year, which gives him and his staff the opportunity to hit the fast-forward button on retooling the team moving forward.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |