Nashville Predators - Draft Review

[NashvilleGM]

The NHL draft is now over so let’s take a look at the choices made by the Nashville Predators. Going into this draft, the Preds had only a 1st round pick and some late round picks (5-6-7). Here’s a review of the players drafted by Nashville :

Steve Shipley, C, Owen Sound Attack

Nashville had traded their first round pick to the Montreal Canadiens in that Andrei Markov trade. They managed to get a 1st back from San Jose by moving the « Russian punk » Alexander Radulov. It was a good gamble since the Sharks pick was way better than the Nashville one being 12th instead of 29th. Anyway, with the 12th pick, the Nashville Predators selected from the OHL Owen Sound Attack, Center Steve Shipley.

Shipley is a big center, 6 foot 2, 204 lbs. « Steve was a great target for us at 12, we even thought of trading up to assure we could get him. » said Preds GM Seb Harrison. Shipley’s need to improve his skating but a center that big is what GM dream about. The Nashville will need him since their top forwards are getting pretty old.

In 68 games for the Attack, Shipley scored 23 goals and tacked on 40 assists for 63 points. Shipley played for Team Orr at the 2010 CHL Top Prospects Game.

Cameron Wind, D, Brampton Battalion

In the 5th round, the Nashville Predators did everything they could to move up and draft Cameron Wind, a defenseman out of the OHL Brampton Battalion. They managed to do so by concluding a deal with the Colorado Avalanches trading up their 5th pick(149 overall) and their 4th pick in 2011 for the Avs 5th pick in this years draft (140 overall).

« I think Cameron Wind is awesome. He’s a great young kid that went under the radar. » said the Preds GM. He’s a shutdown 6 foot 1 defenseman that doesn’t have many offensive skills. I think it’s fair to say that he’ll be a 3rd pairing defenseman but a great one.

He’ll probably be playing in Milwaukee next season.

Emanuel Astrom, RW, Rogle Jr. (SWE)

With their 6th pick, the Nashville Predators went into the Sweden pool and drafted Emanuel Astrom. Astrom had 19 points in 24 games in the Swedish league. He’s a very big winger being 6 foot 4 and weighing 220 pounds. I think it’s a good gamble for the Predators. They need young forwards and Astrom is definetely a young prospect that can make it into the big league in a more defensive role.

His status for next year is still unknown but he might be playing in Milwaukee.

Brendan Ranford, D, Kamloops Blazers

With their last pick of the draft, the Predators selected Brendan Ranford from the WHL Kamloops Blazers. I'd really like this guy if he skated better, but at his size he needs to be quicker. « I think he's great value for a 7th round choice. He will need to work very hard this summer but I’m sure he has the work ethic to do well. A great young kid. » said Preds GM.
He’ll probably be playing in the Juniors next season.


Astrom +10 POS (110) +10 HIT (120)