Though the Nashville Predators were routed by their rival Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center, rookie forward Joakim Kemell had an otherwise positive NHL debut on Friday.
There wasn’t much to feel good about in the 6-2 loss that saw Chicago’s Ryan Donato score a career high four points, but Kemell, the Predators‘ 2022 first-round pick, stood out.
In 11:44 minutes played, Kemell generated seven shots on goal, a franchise record for the most shots in a player’s first NHL game. The previous record was held by Craig Smith, who had five shots in his debut on Oct. 7, 2011. Incidentally, Smith played for the Blackhawks in Friday’s game.
Though Kemell did not score and finished with a minus-1 rating, he generated two hits and drew one penalty in the third period.
Initially, Kemell seemed to struggle in his first few shifts — he bobbled a few touches and missed a few chances to enter the offensive zone with possession. Coach Andrew Brunette kept him on the bench for the latter half of the first period amid a series of penalties, but Kemell ended up with five shifts in the second and six shifts in the third period, indicating a growing confidence in the forward as the game progressed.
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With the game out of reach in the third period, Kemell skated 59 seconds on the second power play unit, generating two shots on goal. Kemell also finished with the second most individual expected goals (0.65) according to Natural Stat Trick.
Kemell’s debut has been anticipated since he was drafted in the first round by Nashville in 2022.
Kemell, a 20-year-old from Jyväskylä, Finland, is an excellent shooter from the wing, but has also grown his playmaking abilities in his first two AHL seasons. In 119 AHL games, he has 31 goals and 48 assists, plus 11 goals and 10 assists in 29 playoff games.
The Predators return to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday to play the Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. CT, FanDuel Sports Network) in the team’s final game before a 10-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.
