Predators Sign Joey Willis to Three-Year, Entry-Level Contract

Nashville, Tenn. (March 3, 2025) – Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced today that the team has signed forward Joey Willis to a three-year, entry level contract.

Willis, 19 (3/14/05), has recorded 44 points (21g-23) in 38 contests for the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit and Kingston Frontenacs this season. He began the season serving as an alternate captain for Saginaw for the second straight season and posted 34 points (17g-17a) in 26 games prior to being dealt to Kingston on Jan. 7 for a player and seven draft picks; with the Frontenacs, he has recorded 10 points (4g-6a) in 12 games. Willis set a Spirit franchise record with five goals in a game on Nov. 13 at Flint and was named the OHL Player of the week in back-to-back weeks on Nov. 11 and Nov. 25 after a stretch that saw him post 18 points (13g-5a) in five games. The 6-foot, 179-pound forward has tallied 136 points (50g-86a) in 170 career regular-season OHL games and 17 points in 28 career OHL postseason games.

Originally selected by Nashville in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, Willis won the 2024 Memorial Cup with Saginaw, collecting 11 points (4g-7a) in 17 postseason contests enroute defeating London in the championship. Internationally, the Elmhurst, Ill., native, won goldrepresenting the United States at the 2025 World Junior Championship, playing alongside fellow Predators prospect Teddy Stiga, recording two points (2a) in two games. He became just the sixth American to ever win a title at both the World Junior Championship and Memorial Cup.

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