Nashville Predators: Top 8 prospects worth getting excited about
The Nashville Predators are in a bit of an odd spot as a franchise.
For quite a few years, the Nashville Predators were one of the most dominant teams in the Western Conference, and fell just two games short of winning the Stanley Cup in 2017. However, if their window to winning a Stanley Cup with their current roster hasn’t shut yet, it is extremely close. They have been forced to move many great players the past few years and are seeing other ones, such as Pekka Rinne, begin to decline.
Still, they have some very talented players on their team and should continue to be a Playoff team in the near future. Though they struggled in the goaltending department last year, their biggest struggle as a team has been creating offense, something they have had a tough time doing for a number of seasons now.
Thankfully, they do have some pretty intriguing prospects who may be able to help out in that regard, some even in the very near future.
As mentioned in every other Top 8 Prospects articles throughout this series, any player who has played in more NHL games than any other league in a season, regardless of the season, will not be included. With that being said, here are the Top 8 Prospects in the Nashville Predators organization.
8. Yakov Trenin
The first prospect to kick this list off is Yakov Trenin, who also happens to be the oldest. The 23-year-old, who was taken in the Second Round (No. 55 overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, took some time to develop, but appears to finally be ready for a full-time NHL role heading into the 2020-21 season.
After his first two seasons of posting underwhelming numbers in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals, Trenin was much improved during the 2019-20 season, putting up 20 goals and 35 points in just 32 games.
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Due to his great play, he earned his first ever NHL promotion, appearing in 21 games with the Predators. In those 21 games he managed two goals and four assists. Trenin is currently playing in the KHL while waiting for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season. With the recent announcement that the season will begin on January 13, he will soon head back to Nashville to prepare for camp.
He has a great chance to earn a full-time roster spot with the Predators this season.
7. Egor Afanasyev
Another Second Round pick (No. 45 overall in 2019) who has become a very intriguing prospect for the Nashville Predators is Egor Afanasyev. At the time the 19-year-old was drafted, he had just wrapped up his second season in the USHL with the Muskegon Lumberjacks where he put up 27 goals and 62 points in 58 games.
The 2019-20 season saw him leave the USHL to play for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL, where his stellar numbers continued. In 62 games with the Spitfires, Afanasyev had 31 goals and 67 points, both of which led his team. The young Russian has appeared in four KHL games this season with CSKA Moskva, and hasn’t looked out of place at all with three points. The six-foot-three forward will likely be seen later this month representing Team Russia at the World Juniors in Edmonton.