Nashville, Tenn. (June 29, 2024) – The Nashville Predators selected six forwards, one defenseman and one goaltender at the 2024 NHL Draft, held on June 28-29 at Sphere in Las Vegas, Nev.
“We were happy [with our Draft],” Predators Assistant General Manager/Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty said. “Starting off last night, Egor Surin is a guy that we really had on our minds, that we were hoping would get to us. Then, moving on to today, I thought we managed the day really well. We had to move around a little bit, we backed off that second second-round pick and still got a lot of players in the third round that we liked and valued. So, all in all, I thought we accomplished a lot of what we wanted to with the players and some of the positions and different types of players we were able to draft.”
Nashville selected forward Egor Surin with the No. 22 overall pick of the first round. Surin, 17 (8/1/06), spent the majority of the 2023-24 campaign with Loko Yaroslavl of the Russian junior league (MHL), recording 52 points (22g-30a) in 42 games. He tied for second in assists (30) and points on his team; his 52 points were the ninth-most among all league skaters. The 6-foot-1, 197-pound forward led Loko Yaroslavl in points during the postseason with 23 (5g-18a), nine more than the next-closest player on his team, and his 18 assists paced all playoff performers. Surin additionally made his professional hockey debut in 2023-24, appearing in three games for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, which reached the KHL’s Gagarin Cup Finals.
With their second-round pick, the Predators took forward Teddy Stiga, 18 (4/5/06), from USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program at No. 55 overall. The No. 44-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, Stiga recorded 79 points (36g-43a) in 61 games for the NTDP’s U-18 squad in 2023-24, finishing third on his team in goals and points and tied for third in assists. Internationally, the Sudbury, Mass., native served as an alternate captain for Team USA at the 2024 U-18 World Championship, helping the Americans capture the silver medal while being named a Top 3 player on his team. The 5-foot-10, 178-pound forward is committed to play collegiate hockey at Boston College next season.
Nashville then traded the No. 59 overall pick (Spencer Gill) to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a third-round pick (No. 77) in the 2024 NHL Draft and Minnesota’s third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Using the pick it received from Philadelphia, Nashville selected 17-year-old (9/11/06) defenseman Viggo Gustafsson from HV71 of the Swedish junior league. At 6-foot-2, 194 pounds, he skated in 41 games last season, he produced 19 points (3g-16a), the second-most among HV71 blueliners; he also appeared in five games at the U-18 level in Sweden. The Väckelsång, Sweden, native also represented his country at the 2024 U-18 World Championship, earning bronze after tallying one assist in seven appearances.
With its second pick of the third round, Nashville chose forward Miguel Marques at No. 87 overall. The Winnipeg, Man., native led the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes in scoring during the 2023-24 campaign, recording 74 points (28g-46a) in 67 games, a 54-point improvement from his rookie season. Standing at 5-foot-11, 187-pounds, Marques has posted 100 points (38g-62a) in 136 career WHL contests since debuting as a 15-year-old in 2021-22.
Nashville’s final selection of the third round came at No. 94 overall, picking up Hiroki Gojsic from the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. Gojsic, 18 (5/1/06), ranked fifth on Kelowna in scoring during his rookie WHL campaign, recording 50 points (21g-29a) in 68 appearances; he went on to add five assists in 11 postseason games. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound native of Langley, B.C., notched 12 multi-point games in 2023-24, including a career-high four-point effort on April 2 at Spokane (3g-1a).
To begin the fourth round, the Predators selected goaltender Jakub Milota with the No. 99 overall pick. Milota was named to the QMJHL’s Rookie All-Star Team this past season after recording an 18-11-1 record, 2.82 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and three shutouts in 33 games with the Cape Breton Eagles. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound netminder also represented his native Czechia in the 2024 U-18 World Championship and earned silver at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Nashville sent the No. 119 overall pick (Raoul Boilard) to the New York Rangers in exchange for the No. 127 overall pick and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. With their final fourth round selection, the Predators picked up forward Viktor Norringer from Frölunda of the Swedish junior league. The 17-year-old (8/31/06), 6-foot-3, 192-pound blueliner spent his first season in the U-20 ranks in 2023-24, compiling 12 points (8g-4a) and a +4 rating in 25 games. A native of Lerkil, Sweden, Norringer also skated in a combined 23 games in Sweden’s two U-18 leagues, where he served as an alternate captain.
The Predators’ final selection of the 2024 NHL Draft came in the seventh round (213th overall), taking forward Erik Pahlsson. He was second on the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints in points with 72 (28g-44a) during the 2023-24 season, his first in North America. Prior to his stint in the USHL, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward played in the Rögle and HV71 systems in his native Sweden, skating in two SHL games for the latter in 2022-23. Pahlsson, 20 (4/9/04), is committed to play collegiate hockey at the University of Minnesota next season.
Nashville’s hockey operations staff now directs its attention toward the start of free agency on Monday, and the team’s 2024 Development Camp, which runs from July 1-6 in Nashville.
Source: Nashville Preds
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