The Best Nashville Predators Picks in Each Round of the NHL Draft: First Round

The Nashville Predators have been a part of 25 drafts and made a first-round selection in 21 of them. In three of those drafts, Nashville has made multiple first-round picks as well. Out of all of that talent drafted in the opening round, 18 out of 19 (excluding the last three years) have played an NHL game and most of them were solid players, but we're looking for the best of them. Let's get into it.

Yaroslav Askarov

11th overall, 2020

Starting with the most recent first-round pick to play an NHL game, Yaroslav Askarov is a great pick in the top half of the first round for the Predators. Goaltenders are relatively tough to judge whether they will be good or not at any point in the draft, but Nashville took a chance on this young Russian and he's making strides in his first few seasons post-draft.

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Askarov is being billed as Juuse Saros' replacement down the line. While some think that will be sooner rather than later, it's likely going to take some time for Askarov to develop into an elite number one goalie. His numbers at the AHL level have been great and he's well on his way. He should get at least a few more games in the NHL next season before really taking a step into the NHL in a full time role.

Kevin Fiala

11th overall, 2014

Kevin Fiala really broke out as soon as he was traded from the Predators to the Minnesota Wild in 2019. He was only 22 at the time of the trade and had already played nearly three full seasons in the NHL, so the 11th overall pick was given up on a little too soon.

Fiala went from a promising young player who was a middle-6 forward at the time to a big-time scorer who has taken his game to an even higher level over the past three seasons, finishing over a point-per-game in two of those. He has now scored 20+ goals in five consecutive seasons and 70+ points in three consecutive seasons (previous two were shortened due to COVID-19), and as Fiala is only 27 years old, there's likely no slowing down on the horizon for him.

Seth Jones

4th overall, 2013

Seth Jones didn't spend very much time in the Predators organization, but has nevertheless turned into a top pairing/number one defenseman in the NHL and it has been that way for a while. His career started out pretty solid at 19 years old after being drafted 4th overall, but was traded in his third season to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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Jones proceeded to get votes for the Norris Trophy in four consecutive seasons which included a fourth place finish at 23 years old. He's a strong offensive contributor that logs around 25 minutes per night, well over 100 minutes on the penalty kill per season, and well over 200 minutes on the power play per season as well. He has found himself in Chicago for the past three seasons and at age 29 has already recorded over 400 career points.

Ryan Ellis

11th overall, 2009

Including Ryan Ellis may seem like a bit of a reach considering the other names on this list, but he was a very good defenseman until injuries derailed his career. Through his 20s, the Predators had a top-4 defenseman on their hands. The season after he was traded, Ellis played just four games (recording five points) and hasn't played since. That was in 2021-22.

Ellis contributed at both ends of the ice and played both the penalty kill and power play. He scored 76 goals and 275 points in 566 games, blocking nearly 900 shots and delivering nearly 450 hits in his career. For the seasons he did play, he deserves to be here and made an impact.

Alexander Radulov

15th overall, 2004

Alexander Radulov's time in the NHL was a bit odd and even though he bounced around between the NHL and KHL, he made a sizable impact on the teams he played for when in the NHL and was a very skilled player.

Radulov played for the Predators at 21 years old, 22 years old, and 25 years old. In between those seasons and between the age of 25 and 30 when he returned to the NHL, he dominated in the KHL. His two best seasons came in his early 30s with the Dallas Stars where he recorded one point-per-game season. Even though Radulov didn't help the Predators much, he was still one of the best first-round picks by the organization.

Ryan Suter

7th overall, 2003

Ryan Suter is arguably the best first-round pick in the Predators franchise history because of how long he has impacted the game at such a high level. He just wrapped up his 19th season in the NHL. Right in the middle of his career he had a run of 10 seasons where he received Norris Trophy votes, finishing top-10 in six of them and second place in 2012-13.

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Suter has been very good defensively for his entire career, but has also added a good amount of offense throughout as well. On top of nearly 1500 regular season games (133 in the playoffs) and 681 points, he has 1779 blocked shots and over 1000 hits. At 7th overall in arguably the best draft in NHL history, the Predators did not miss.

Dan Hamhuis

12th overall, 2001

Dan Hamhuis has a long and successful 16-year career that started and ended in Nashville with time spent on two other teams along the way. He was a defensive defenseman through and through and executed that style of play very well.

Hamhuis finished with Norris Trophy votes in three seasons and played 1148 games in the NHL. He had over 1000 blocked shots and hits while playing his top-4 role effectively throughout his career. It's not that common to select someone this focused on defense in the first round anymore, but Nashville hit big on their pick as they secured one of the best defensive d-men of his time.

Scott Hartnell

6th overall, 2000

Scott Hartnell was generally underappreciated as he wasn't the start of the teams he played for. Regardless, he did his job very well and had a long and successful career playing 1249 games and recording 327 goals and 707 points.

Hartnell was a very physical top-6 winger who could score (30+ goals twice, 20+ goals nine times) and put up points (60+ points three times). While Nashville drafted him and he played seven seasons for the Predators, he is more well known for his seven seasons in Philadelphia. Hartnell was a presence on the power play and even though he didn't play much shorthanded in his career, was noticed for his two-way play at times. He wasn't an elite player at 6th overall, but he was a well worth-it pick for the Predators in 2000.

David Legwand

2nd overall, 1998

David Legwand was the very first first-round pick in Predators franchise history, and even though he also wasn't elite, he was a solid NHL player. His talent didn't match up to being drafted 2nd overall and I would argue that he isn't the player Hartnell even was, but to play 1136 games in the NHL is impressive.

He only scored 20 goals twice and recorded a 60-point season, but was strong at both ends of the ice and played 15 seasons for the Predators. He isn't the best first-round draft pick by the Predators, but he is one of the best in their history.

The Predators have five first-round draft picks in the organization from the past three years and the book is still out on Philip Tomasino, Eeli Tolvanen, and Dante Fabbro from prior to that. Who knows what any of their career could bring. As of right now, none of them have really shown enough to get on this list, but there is definitely time. While there has been some strong first-round picks in Predators history, there is much more great things to come.

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