Preds Foundation To Host Brent Peterson Golf Classic, 10th Annual Petey’s Preds Party

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The Nashville Predators Foundation, empowered by SmileDirectClub, will host the 11th Annual First Horizon Brent Peterson Golf Classic. Held at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. on Sept. 13, the event will benefit both the Predators Foundation and the Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s (PFP). Later in the month, the 10th Annual First Horizon Petey’s Preds Party will also return to Bridgestone Arena on Sept. 28.

At the Peterson Golf Classic, local celebrities, Predators alumni, and executives will be put in teams of four and will play in morning and afternoon flights. Taking place on the Vanderbilt Legends South Course, the tournament will feature several competitions, such as the longest drive and closest-to-the-pin contest.

Following a year off in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Tuesday, Sept. 28 will mark the return of the First Horizon Petey’s Preds Party. Over the ice at Bridgestone Arena, fans will enjoy an evening of stand-up comedy from Nashville-based comedian Aaron Weber, a delicious dinner, and an auction of rare hockey and sports items. Individual tickets and tables of 10 are available here.

“After a year when we were unable to host so many of our fan-favorite Foundation events, we are thrilled to kick off the 2021-22 season this September with the First Horizon Brent Peterson Golf Classic and First Horizon Petey’s Preds Party,” says Nashville Predators Vice President of Community Relations Rebecca King. “Because of these events, we have raised over $1.6 million for the Preds Foundation and Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s, and we look forward to continuing those efforts this year and for years to come!”

In addition to benefiting the Predators Foundation, both upcoming events will benefit the PFP, which was founded in 2009 by Peterson. “Petey,” as he is known, served as an assistant coach from Day One until 2011 when he brought his battle with Parkinson’s into the public eye. Today, Peterson continues to work tirelessly to raise awareness about the devastating effects of Parkinson’s disease and advance PFP’s mission to support and enhance lives of people with Parkinson’s, their care partners, and families to achieve their highest possible quality of life through awareness, education and programs within a caring community.

Predators 2021 NHL Draft Recap: Nashville Selects Six Players

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Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators made six selections in the 2021 NHL Draft over the weekend (July 23-24) taking three forwards and three defensemen, including forward Fedor Svechkov from Lada Togliatti of the Russian second league with the 19th overall pick.

“We were very pleased with the way this year’s draft went,” says Predators Assistant General Manager/Director of Scouting Jeff Kealty. “Before the draft we tried to implement a strategy and go into it with that in mind, and we felt we did that. We’re very excited about everyone we picked.”

Predators took two players in the first round of the draft for just the second time in franchise history and the first time since 2008. Svechkov, 18-years-old, was the sixth-rated European skater in NHL Central Scouting’s pre-draft rankings and is the second consecutive Russian-born player selected in the first round by the Predators after the team picked goaltender Yaroslav Askarov at No. 11 overall in 2020. The forward spent most of the 2020-21 campaign with Lada Togliatti, where he tallied 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 38 games. He also produced at a point-per-game pace for Togliatti’s squad in the Russian junior league, tallying 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 15 contests.

Later in the first round, the Predators selected forward Zachary L’Heureux. The 18-year-old is a product of the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, where he placed second in the 2020-21 campaign among team skaters in points (39), goals (19) and penalty minutes (47), and was fourth in assists (20). It was the forward’s second full QMJHL season where he tallied 53 points (20 goals, 33 assists) in 55 games as a rookie in 2019-20 with the Moncton Wildcats.

“We were very high on Zachary, and the reason is simple–he brings something different to the game,” says Predators North American Amateur Scout Dave Westby. “He has got a unique package of skill, grit and character. He’s hard to play against and he’ll be there for his teammates. We felt players like him are hard to find, and when you add in the skills he has, we are pretty excited to have been able to draft him.”

In the thirds round, the Preds selected defenseman Anton Olsson from Malmö of the Swedish Hockey League as the 72nd pick. Olsson, 18, skated in his first full SHL season in 2020-21 and appeared in 39 games. Later, Nashville selected defenseman Ryan Ufko from the USHL’s Chicago Steel with its first of two picks in the fourth round (115th overall). Ufko, 18-years-old, is currently attending USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase before entering his freshman season at UMass Amherst in the fall. The right-shot blueliner won the USHL’s Clark Cup with Chicago in the 2020-21 campaign after posting 39 points (10 goals, 29 assists) in 53 games.

With their second pick of the fourth round (124th overall), the Predators selected 6-foot-4 defenseman Jack Matier from the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s. He only skated in seven games this season–all coming at the 2021 World U-18 Championship–due to the OHL canceling its campaign. He is a year removed from posting nine points (9 assists) in 56 contests as a rookie with Ottawa in 2019-20. With its final pick, the Predators selected Zurich, Switzerland, native Simon Knak in the sixth round with the 179th pick. Knak, 19-years-old, split the 2020-21 campaign between the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and the Swiss National League’s HC Davos, appearing in a combined 49 games. He made his National League debut skating for Davos, where he posted eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 25 appearances then spent the remainder of the season with Portland and tallied 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists), five shy of matching his career high of 34 (9 goals, 25 assists) set in 2019-20 in 25 fewer games played.

“We were pretty happy to get him, especially as late as we did,” says Predators North American Amateur Scout Glen Sanders. “He’s a very strong power forward who drives the net. With all the culture-type things we’ve trying to do with this draft, we wanted someone who has character and will, and he has all that.”

Now that the draft has wrapped, the NHL and the Predators are preparing for Free Agency which begins on Wednesday, July 28. With Nashville having contracts that need to be unloaded as well as gaps in their team that need to be filled, it is sure to be an interesting Free Agency period.

Predators Announce Full 2021-22 Season Schedule

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Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators have released their 2021-22 schedule which includes a four-game homestand to start the season. The team will play its first game against the NHL’s new expansion team, the Seattle Kraken. The opening homestand will also feature the Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, and the New York Rangers.

The divisions for the league have been realigned after last year’s shortened 56-game season where games were only played among teams within a certain distance to prevent long travel and to reduce the risk of Covid-19. The upcoming season will be a standard 82-game season with 40 games being held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. The Preds will also host a NHL Stadium Series game against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Tampa Bay Lightning, at Nissan Stadium on Feb. 26.

The Preds will only play two round games and will close out the month with home games vs. San Jose (Oct. 26) and the New York Islanders (Oct. 30). Nashville will have a busy November as they will play 15 games overall, 10 of which will be on the road. They will have a long road trip as well between November 2-11 as they face Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Chicago, Dallas, and St. Louis in a 10-day span. December boasts a similar schedule as the team will play 15 games, including 10 on the road. A road trip between Dec. 7-12 leads the Preds to Detroit and New York to face the Islanders, Rangers, and Devils.

The Predators will kickoff 2022 on home ice with a New Year’s Day tilt against rival Chicago before heading west for three games at Vegas, Los Angeles, and Arizona from Jan. 4-8. February will feature three home games as the schedule includes a built-in break for the 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics set for Feb. 7-22.

March begins with Nashville’s second trip to Seattle of the season (March 2) as part of a two-game stretch that finishes in San Jose (March 5). Seven of Nashville’s next 12 contests will be at Bridgestone Arena, starting with a three-game homestand against Dallas, Anaheim, and St. Louis from March 8-12. April will see the team play at Bridgestone Arena nine times starting with the second half of a road-home back-to-back against Buffalo and Washington on April 1-2. Nashville’s game versus Washington highlights a two-week span in which the team will play seven of eight games on home ice from April 2-17, featuring games against Minnesota, Florida, Edmonton, San Jose, Chicago, and St. Louis. Nashville will conclude the 2021-22 campaign with a road back-to-back set in Colorado and Arizona on April 28-29.

All regionally available games will be televised on Bally Sports South and the Bally Sports app with a full broadcast schedule being announced at a later date. For information on Predators season tickets or to purchase, click here.

Seattle Kraken Take Predators’ Forward Calle Järnkrok In Expansion Draft

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Calle Järnkrok . Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Predators

Out of the players the Nashville Predators left available, the Seattle Kraken selected Calle Järnkrok in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. The Kraken left bigger names like Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen on the table, helping them preserve cap space.

“[Thank you to] Calle Järnkrok for everything he did for the Predators organization,” says Preds General Manager David Poile. “Calle was a real good acquisition from Detroit several years ago, played a lot of different roles for us, a very versatile player, played in all different areas of the game and he clearly will be missed by the Predators. We wish him and his family all the best in Seattle.”

Järnkrok, 29-years-old, was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft. The Swedish native spent eight seasons with the Preds, playing in 508 games and scoring 94 goals. During Nashville’s Stanley Cup Finals run, Järnkrok scored 15 goals and 16 assists, accumulating 31 total points. This past season, Järnkrok led the team in goals, scoring 13 and assisting 15.

The Preds will have eight forwards under contract for next season: Duchene’s seven-year, $56 million contract is entering its third year and he will be paid $10 million for the 2021-22 season while Johansen is entering the fifth year of his eight year, $64 million contract and will get paid $8 million for the 2021-22 season.

The next big event for the Predators and the NHL start this Friday, July 23, with the start of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Predators have eight picks in this year’s draft and the 19th overall pick.

Predators Prospect Luke Prokop Comes Out As First Active Gay NHL Player

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Luke Prokop. Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Predators/NHL

Nashville Predators’ prospect Luke Prokop made history off the ice this week by coming out as gay, becoming the first active NHL player under contract to do so. Prokop has received a huge outpour of support from the Predators, the hockey community, and people from around the world.

Prokop, a 19-year-old native of Edmonton, Canada, was drafted by the Preds in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft with the 73 overall pick. He spent last season playing with the Calgary Hitmen of WHL team where he was named an alternative captain.

“The Nashville Predators organization is proud of Luke for the courage he is displaying in coming out today and we will support him unequivocally in the days, weeks, and years to come as he continues to develop as a prospect,” says Nashville Predators President and CEO Sean Henry. “A long-stated goal in our organization is equality for all, including the LGBTQ community, and it is important that Luke feels comfortable and part of an inclusive environment as he moves forward in his career.”

Prokop made a statement via social media coming out. In an interview with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan he also expressed his new inner-peace and how the Predators organization supported him and his decision to come out publicly.

“Luke is a valued prospect of the Nashville Predators and we think he has a bright future,” shares Predators President of Hockey Operations and General Manager David Poile. “We want Luke to become a successful hockey player, and we understand his ability to be out comfortably will help him achieve his goals on and off the ice. We are committed to ensuring nothing stands in the way of his ability. His courage is an inspiration to us, and to the LGBTQ community in Nashville.”

Prokop received support from teammates Roman Josi and Matt Duchene, as well as support from legendary athletes like Billie Jean King and the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau.

“People, unless they can be their authentic true selves, can’t be the best they can be,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says. “Anybody who is connected to the NHL, whether it’s front office, whether it’s coaching and player development, whether it’s players, we want everybody to know that whoever you are, you have a place in our family.”

Here is the full ESPN interview with Prokop:

Nashville Predators, Fanaply Launch ‘Predators Origin’ NFT Series

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The Nashville Predators have partnered with digital collectible creator Fanaply to launch their first series of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). This limited run of 25 NFTs, entitled “The Origin Series,” features the one-of-a-kind, No. 1 of 1 “Gold Saber Skull – Genesis Edition” which is up for live auction through July 30.

The NFT is packaged with two Lexus Lounge tickets to the Bridgestone Arena event of the buyer’s choosing. 25 individually numbered “Gold Saber Skull” NFTs are available for purchase now, each including a $35 donation in the buyer’s name to the 365 Pediatric Cancer Fund presented by Twice Daily.

“Our fans have been asking us to enter the digital collectibles realm for quite some time so we are excited to do so by going back to the beginnings of the franchise with ‘The Origins Series,'” says Predators Chief Marketing Officer Bill Wickett. “We would like to thank the National Hockey League for permitting us to explore the space and look forward to working with our fans to further enhance the Smashville experience through more NFT series.”

The Predators and Fanaply worked to produce these NFTs using Ethereum blockchain technology making them collectible and valuable. They can be bought, sold, or traded via the Fanaply website or on a secondary marketplace. Fanaply is one of the original creators of NFTs, and believes the future of NFTs is an accessible one where people can afford to buy them and purchase with credit and debit cards. Fanaply has the most environmentally friendly NFTs and has built a proprietary system that dramatically reduces the impact of energy consumption, unlike many other NFT platforms.

“Bringing limited edition, environmentally friendly digital assets to the fans of the Nashville Predators is central to Fanaply’s belief that NFTs are the natural progression of fandom,” says Fanaply Co-Founder and CEO Grant Dexter. “Fans are still mostly interacting online with the teams they love right now, and they’re telling us they want digital products for their digital worlds. NFTs not only let fans commemorate amazing moments, milestones and experiences of the teams, games and communities they love, but for the first time in history, fans can actually have true portable digital ownership… We’re thrilled to be partnering with such an innovative, creative and progressive fan-driven organization with the Nashville Predators.”

Predators Release 2021 Preseason Schedule, Include Two Home Games

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The Nashville Predators have released their preseason schedule for September and October of 2021. The postseason will feature six games, four of which are away and two to be held at Bridgestone Arena.

The Preds will kick things off with a doubleheader on the road against the Florida Panthers on Sept. 26. This will mark the ninth time in the last 10 training camps that the Predators and Panthers will play a split-squad doubleheader. Nashville will then face off against the Lightning, traveling to Tampa on Sept. 30 and hosting the defending Stanley Cup champions at Bridgestone Arena on Oct. 2.

The Predators will round out their preseason schedule with two games against the Hurricanes who were Nashville’s first round opponent in the 2021 playoffs. The first game will be played at PNC Arena in Raleigh on Oct. 5, and the second on Oct. 9 on the Preds home ice. The 2021-22 NHL regular season is scheduled to open the following week.

To purchase tickets for the two home preseason game, click here.

Predators Trade Ryan Ellis, Announce Protection List For Expansion Draft

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Photo: Courtesy of the Nashville Predators

The Predators made significant trades over the weekend (July 17-18) which included trading fan favorite Ryan Ellis in a three-way trade with the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Philadelphia Flyers. Nashville sent Ellis to the Flyers for Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick, they then sent Patrick to Las Vegas for Cody Glass.

“We felt it was time for a change to our core this offseason, and we are really excited to add an influx of youth, size and skill into the lineup with these additions,” says President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile. “Cody Glass is a former sixth overall pick that we think has a high ceiling as a center prospect, and Philippe Myers is a 6-foot-5 defenseman that adds an element that we do not currently have on our back end.”

Glass was selected by Vegas sixth overall in the 2017 Draft and turned pro in 2018-19 season following a decorated four-season career with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks which saw him amass 292 points (94 goals, 198 assists) in 239 games, earning WHL West First-Team All-Star selection on three occasions. Since signing with the Golden Knights, the center has split time between the NHL and AHL, most recently recording 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 27 games with Vegas and 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 14 games with Henderson during the 2020-21 campaign. Meanwhile, Meyers spent the 2020-21 season full-time in the NHL with the Flyers, amassing 11 points (1 goals, 10 assists) in 44 games. Since making his league debut with Philadelphia in 2018-19, he has appeared in 115 NHL contests, totaling 29 points (6 goals, 23 assists) and 78 penalty minutes.

“At the same time, we will miss Ryan Ellis’ leadership, dedication and work ethic in our locker room,” says Polie. “We drafted Ryan in 2009, and over the last decade-plus he helped lead our franchise through its most competitive era, spending the last four seasons as Associate Captain. We wish Ryan and his family all the best in Philadelphia and thank him for all he did during his time with the Predators.”

Additionally, on Sunday, the Predators released a list of players they intend to protect during the expansion draft for the new NHL team, the Seattle Kraken. All 30 NHL clubs–except the Golden Knights–had the option to protect eight skaters and one goalie. The Kraken will select at least one player from each team for a total of 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies.

Forwards Filip Forsberg, Tanner Jeannot and Luke Kunin; defensemen Alexandre Carrier, Mattias Ekholm, Dante Fabbro, Roman Josi and Philippe Myers; and goaltender Juuse Saros were among the players listed for protection.

The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft will take place Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcasted by ESPN2.