The Nashville Predators have built a strong prospect pool and look to be set for a while. With so many good young players in the system and already breaking through to the NHL, there won't be enough room for everything to remain in Nashville.
While this isn't a bad thing, it does make for some tough decisions sooner than later. As soon as next season, there are three talented forward prospects that will be required to pass through waivers if they can't claim a spot on the Predators. This includes Egor Afanasyev, Philip Tomasino, and Juuso Parssinen.
The prospect I am most worried about the Predators letting slip through their fingers is Afanasyev.
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He is a former second-round draft pick (45th overall) from 2019 who signed his entry-level deal nearly right away. The first two years of that deal slid, so at 23 years old, he is in the final year of his first contract. Afanasyev is going to be a RFA after this season and I'm confident that the Predators are going to sign him for at least one year. Being brought back by Nashville isn't the problem. The issue that may arise is losing him on waivers before the team even thinks about trading him.
Afanasyev is a fan favourite in the organization and has only played 19 games in the NHL to this point in his career. While the young Russian has taken a huge step in his development this season in Milwaukee, jumping from 13 goals and 26 points in 57 games last season to 23 goals and 47 points in 50 games in 2023-24, I would still have to place him behind Tomasino and even potentially Parssinen.
In Afanasyev's 19 NHL games, he has recorded just one goal. In comparison, Tomasino has 23 goals and 70 points in 148 games spread across three different seasons. He is easily good enough to be in the NHL right now, but the organization wants the chemistry to hold for the Milwaukee Admirals and for the young players to have success first. Parssinen has 14 goals and 37 points in 89 career NHL games.
It isn't that tough to insert one or two young players into a lineup, but things get tricky when there are more young players that need opportunities and spots on the NHL roster while the Predators are still trying to compete. AHL success doesn't always translate over to NHL success, but we can't judge Afanasyev off 210 minutes of ice time and 37 shifts in the NHL in the bottom-six.
Afanasyev has good vision and size. He is also known for his shot and underrated playmaking ability.
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Let's assume Jason Zucker and Anthony Beauvillier (both pending UFAs) are gone in the offseason. That opens up a couple of spots, but the Predators are on the rise with a lot of cap space. I would think they try to land at least one big free agent forward. Does Afanasyev beat out any 2-3 of Cole Smith, Kiefer Sherwood, Cody Glass, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Mark Jankowski, Parssinen, and Tomasino for a spot? That is the big question.
I could see Afanasyev making the Predators out of training camp because the team wouldn't want to lose him and give him a fair shake in the lineup at the start, but it might not be the best for the player to potentially sit a number of games early on.
We could be surprised and Afanasyev comes to camp ready to take a spot on Nashville. Let's hope that's the case because if he hits waivers, one team is sure to take a chance on him. He's a talented young player ready to break into the NHL and there might not be enough opportunity on the Predators right now.
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