© John Russell

Rookie Camp invite Easton Armstrong scored twice and three additional Nashville skaters found the back of the net as the Predators prospect squad closed out the 2024 NHL Rookie Showcase with a 5-4 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday at Ford Ice Center Bellevue.

From here, it’s on to the Predators main camp, where several members of Nashville’s rookie squad will vie for a coveted spot on the team’s 2024-25 regular season roster.

“I thought today we had some good moments, but you want the players to have a chance to get up to game speed,” Milwaukee Admirals Head Coach Karl Taylor said. “Now they’re going to be going to camp against the vets, and hopefully that’s giving them a leg up. Hopefully they’ve been able to show what they can do to our management crew playing against their peers. And that’s the nice thing that you get from these tournaments. They’re the same aged people. You don’t have an 18 year old playing against a 30 year old, so it’s an equal evaluation. I think things went pretty well. It was nice to get a couple wins, it was nice for some kids to score some goals. And hopefully that gives them a good feeling going into main camp.”

QUICK HITS

Svechkov’s Debut

Predators 2019 first-round pick Fedor Svechkov slotted into the lineup for the first time this weekend and exited the game picking up an assist on Ozzy Wiesblatt’s first-period goal.

“It was a pretty good first game,” Svechkov said. “Summer hockey is a little bit different if you’re comparing it to regular season hockey, but it was a good experience for my first game.”

Called one of Milwaukee’s best players late into the Calder Cup Playoffs this summer, the challenge now will be carrying that momentum forward into training camp and the 2024-25 season.

“[Coachella Valley] obviously beat us four games to one and were the better team in the series in the end,” Taylor said. “It was difficult at times for some of our players. It wasn’t difficult for him. He got better as it got harder. And when you see people lean into a more difficult situation and their game continues to improve, those are exciting moments for coaches and management crews, when you’re watching a player grow before your eyes. And that’s kind of what happened with him in the playoffs last year. The hard part about it is last year’s over, so we have to start over. You don’t just start where you were. That situation and that whole season put him in a situation to have the opportunity to grow like that. But he has to carry that forward, and that’s the biggest challenge for a young player coming into main camp this year.”

You Get a Goal, You Get a Goal, You Get a Goal

Three different Predators skaters scored their first goal of the weekend against Carolina on Monday, including showcase invite Armstrong, who tallied twice before the final buzzer sounded.

✌ for Army https://t.co/bz3yrsUoPW pic.twitter.com/ZJtynb1oYj

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) September 16, 2024

Predators 2023 second-round pick Kalan Lind (46th overall) and trade acquisition Ozzy Wiesblatt (SJS; 2020, 31st overall) additionally found their first goals of the weekend in their team’s 5-4 win.

Armstrong, Lind and Wiesblatt are all due at training camp this week.

Willis Strikes Again

2023 fourth-round pick Joey Willis (111th overall) scored his second goal of the tournament to exit the weekend tied with Armstrong and Hiroki Gojsic for the team lead.

Whatever works ‍♀️ https://t.co/jDrC5d1YaM pic.twitter.com/CRMHfXvFX3

— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) September 16, 2024

Willis is due to participate at Nashville’s main camp, starting Wednesday.

UP NEXT

The Predators ramp-up to the 2024-25 regular season continues this week as Training Camp gets underway at Ford Ice Center Bellevue on Thursday. Click here to view the full Training Camp roster and click here to view the full schedule.