NHL Prospect Watch: Nashville Predators
Ahead of the 2024-25 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. Throughout the series, we’ll highlight WHLers who have been signed to an NHL contract, were recently drafted, or are included in the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
Today, we check in on a pile of young guns aiming to crack the Nashville Predators roster.
Hiroki Gojsic
Power forward Hiroki Gojsic has settled in as a WHL scoring threat after making the jump to the Kelowna Rockets from the BCHL in 2023-24. The 18-year-old went off for 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points and a +5 rating in the last 41 games of the regular season after putting up nine points through the first 27 matches, all while showing he’s not afraid to throw the body around. Gojsic, a 6-foot-3, 198-pound winger, netted his first WHL hat trick and added an assist against Spokane on February 4. He added another five assists in 11 playoff games as Kelowna advanced to the second round of the 2024 WHL Playoffs. Nashville called Gojsic’s name with the 94th pick in the third round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and will be watching closely as the dangerous winger and the up-and-coming Rockets look to hit another gear in 2024-25.
1, 2, 3, 4, Hiroki Gojsic likes to score!@Kelowna_Rockets | @PredsNHL | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/PY9yZW1wos
— The WHL (@TheWHL) June 29, 2024
Jeremy Hanzel
The man who has had to battle for every opportunity in hockey is ready to prove his worth to the Preds after graduating from the WHL. The Seattle Thunderbirds alternate captain led his team in points as a defenceman with a career-best 17 goals and 43 assists for 60 points in 66 games. He registered five games with three or more points, highlighted by a one-goal, three-assist outing against the Tri-City Americans on January 20. A sixth-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2023, Hanzel impressed at the 2023 Rookie Faceoff tournament in Las Vegas and suited up for an NHL preseason game last fall. He signed an entry-level deal with the Avs in March before being traded to Nashville shortly after. He made his professional debut with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals upon the conclusion of the WHL regular season and served up a pair of assists in five games for his first professional points. The 2023 WHL Champion averaged more than a point per game with five goals, 17 assists and a +26 rating in 19 playoff games en route to Seattle’s Ed Chynoweth Cup win and tallied another two assists at the Memorial Cup.
Jeremy Hanzel goes 🔚 – 2️⃣ – 🔚!@SeattleTbirds | @Avalanche pic.twitter.com/Mu2bEHg6NI
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 22, 2024
Kalan Lind
Bruising forward Kalan Lind did some of his best work with the Red Deer Rebels in the playoffs after a personal-best regular season. The Shaunavon, Sask. product registered 16 goals and 29 assists for 45 points in 46 games, tying for third on the team in points despite the truncated campaign and finishing second in points-per-game with .98. Lind played a critical role in the postseason with two game-winning goals to eliminate the high-flying Medicine Hat Tigers, highlighted by a pair of assists and the double-overtime winner in Game 1 of the first-round series. The 19-year-old tied for the team lead in postseason points with eight and finished second in goals with four in nine games. Lind was selected with the 46th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and put pen to paper on a three-year, entry-level deal in September 2023.
Double the overtime, double the fun!@PredsNHL prospect Kalan Lind plays the OT hero for the @Rebelshockey.#WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/jUNCnWqiDM
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 30, 2024
Miguel Marques
Speedy Lethbridge Hurricanes winger Miguel Marques rode a breakout season all the way to the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas, where the Predators picked him up with the 87th pick in the third round. The 18-year-old tripled his previous totals from last season with 28 goals (including a team-leading four game-winners), 46 assists and a team-leading 74 points in 67 games. Canes coaches hope to shift the 5-foot-11, 172-pound forward to centre in 2024-25 and increase his role on the penalty kill. Marques snagged his first career multi-goal game in 2023-24, highlighted by a two-goal, two-assist effort against the Swift Current Broncos on December 27. A Prince George, B.C. product, Marques played minor hockey and attended elementary school with fellow Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk, who hails from nearby McBride.
Miguel Marques hits the 25-goal plateau for the first time in his WHL career!@WHLHurricanes | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/qCwIm5wFkH
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 25, 2024
Tanner Molendyk
Smooth-skating defenceman Tanner Molendyk played a key role in Saskatoon’s regular-season championship and push to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship. The 2023 24th overall pick also put up career numbers with 10 goals and 46 assists for 56 points and a +40 rating in 50 contests. He missed time after an injury sustained at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship but didn’t miss a beat in his return to the Blades’ lineup. His 1.12 points per game ranked fourth among all WHL blueliners, as did his +40 rating. Molendyk potted another three goals and seven assists for 10 points and a +11 rating in 16 playoff games. Four of those points- including a primary assist on Fraser Minten’s overtime winner in Game 5- came against the eventual WHL Champion Moose Jaw Warriors in the Eastern Conference Championship. The 19-year-old made the WHL East Division First All-Star Team and appears primed for a second chance at World Juniors after joining Canada for the National Junior Team Summer Showcase.
HOLY MOLY what an overtime winner from Tanner Molendyk@PredsNHL pic.twitter.com/g5iJSVyrUc
— Saskatoon Blades (@BladesHockey) February 17, 2024
Luke Prokop
Two-time WHL Champion Luke Prokop is coming off of his first full season in the professional ranks, divvying up his time between Milwaukee and the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound blueliner led all Gladiators defencemen with 23 assists and tacked on five goals to finish second in points with 28. This earned him a late-season call-up to the AHL, where he potted his first AHL assist against the San Diego Gulls on March 15. Originally drafted 73rd overall in the third round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Prokop compiled 97 points (22 goals, 75 assists) in 251 WHL games with the Calgary Hitmen, Edmonton Oil Kings and Seattle Thunderbirds, capturing back-to-back titles with Edmonton and Seattle and snagging two goals and two assists in eight Memorial Cup appearances. He was also named the 2022 WHL and CHL Humanitarian of the Year.
LUKE PROKOP'S FIRST CAREER AHL POINT!#MILhockey pic.twitter.com/ktGmnmzqsl
— Milwaukee Admirals (@mkeadmirals) March 16, 2024
Austin Roest
Nashville’s 2023 sixth-round pick entered 2023-24 with a fresh new ‘C’ on his jersey, sharing Captain responsibilities with Vegas Golden Knights prospect Ben Hemmerling. Roest would lead the Everett Silvertips with 38 goals while adding 33 assists for 71 points- good for third on the squad. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound centreman’s fantastic campaign included three hat tricks, nine games where he recorded three or more points, and five game-winning goals. Roest, a Coldstream, B.C. product, signed his entry-level contract with Nashville on March 1 and buried a goal and three assists against Moose Jaw later that night. The 20-year-old carried the momentum into the postseason, where he nailed three goals and four assists in five games to eliminate the Vancouver Giants. However, a lower-body injury incurred in that series held him out of the second-round matchup against the eventual Western Conference Champion Portland Winterhawks.
“Pucks in deep” -Austin Roest (probably)#ForEverett pic.twitter.com/IViFWr2ZFR
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) November 23, 2023
Reid Schaefer
Year one is in the books. 20-year-old forward Reid Schaefer found his footing in his first season of professional hockey with Milwaukee, notching seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points in 63 tilts, the bulk of which came in the back half of the season. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound winger picked up another goal, three assists and a +5 rating in 14 playoff tilts with the Admirals. Schaefer was drafted 32 overall in the first round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers but was included in the trade package that sent Matthias Ekholm north in 2023. The Spruce Grove, Alta. native was a member of Seattle’s WHL Championship-winning squad in 2023, putting up 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 19 postseason matchups. His monster final season of junior hockey also included a gold medal with Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
First of many for Schaef 😌
Congrats to Reid Schaefer on his first professional goal‼️#MILhockey pic.twitter.com/9VZ9VuAf4l
— Milwaukee Admirals (@mkeadmirals) November 8, 2023
Ozzy Wiesblatt
One of the newest members of the Predators organization, former San Jose Sharks first-round pick Ozzy Wiesblatt closed out the season on loan with Milwaukee from the San Jose Barracuda. The Calgarian strung together a goal and five assists in 16 appearances with the Admirals, bringing his season total to four goals and 17 assists for 21 points in 50 contests. Wiesblatt found more consistency in the postseason with nine points (two goals, seven assists) in Milwaukee’s to the Western Conference Final, highlighted by a five-game assist stream from May 10-22. In junior, he suited up for parts of five seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders, tallying 179 points (58 goals, 121 assists) and helping the Raiders clinch a WHL Championship in 2019. Internationally, Wiesblatt represented Canada at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, earning a silver medal.
OZZY WIESBLATT, YOU ARE A MILWAUKEE ADMIRAL!#MILhockey pic.twitter.com/BjHQN0bAIE
— Milwaukee Admirals (@mkeadmirals) March 27, 2024
