Last summer’s point of no return with goaltenders Juuse Saros and Yaroslav Askarov forced general manager Barry Trotz to choose a path for the Nashville Predators.
Stick with Saros, who has proven he’s capable of handling full-time NHL duties? Or gamble on Askarov, one of the top goaltending prospects in recent history?
Trotz stuck with Saros, signing him to an eight-year extension that will keep the 30-year-old in Nashville through 2033. He traded Askarov to San Jose in exchange for a first-round pick (2025), forward David Edstrom and goaltender Magnus Chrona.
With that matter settled, Saros will be the top guy in Nashville for a while. But the Predators now have a void in their farm system. Who will succeed Saros when he is ready to move on?
The Predators may try to resolve that with an early round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
Why the Nashville Predators should draft a goaltender in 2025
The current goaltending pipeline for Nashville isn’t impressive.
Jakub Milota, the 2024 fourth-round pick, had a decent season for Cape Breton (QMJHL), with the highlight of his season an 84-save performance in the playoffs. But a .903 save percentage in 38 games — down from a .905 in 33 games the year before — suggests an uneven development is ahead. He has shown promise, but appears to be more of a project.
Chrona was mostly a backup to 27-year-old Matt Murray in Milwaukee this season. In 61 career AHL games, he has a 3.15 goals allowed average and an .898 save percentage as a 24-year-old, which doesn’t suggest a future in the NHL.
Juha Jatkola, a 2023 fourth-round pick, finished his fifth season in the top Finnish league. He just signed a one-year deal with KooKoo (Liiga), and the Predators’ rights to sign him expired June 1.
Two other prospects — Ethan Haider, who is firmly an ECHL goalie at this point, and Konstantin Volkov, who plays in the KHL — are even less likely options.
Any goaltender drafted this year would immediately become the Predators’ top prospect at the position. However, they might want to exercise caution in using a first- or second-round pick.
Nashville Predators’ checkered history with early round goaltenders
The Predators’ biggest hits with goaltenders have come in the later rounds. Pekka Rinne, the team’s all-time leader in wins (369), was taken in the eighth round (No. 258 overall) in 2004. Saros was a fourth-round pick (No. 99 overall) in 2013.
Askarov, taken at No. 11 overall in 2020, has a promising future in San Jose, but the rest of Nashville’s first- and second-round goaltenders have not panned out. The biggest bust was Brian Finley in 1999 (No. 6 overall), who played in only four games before spending most of his brief career in the AHL.
Magnus Hellberg (No. 38 overall, 2011) and Jeremy Smith (No. 54 overall, 2007) made it to the NHL, but didn’t last long. Jan Lasak (No. 65, 1999) played in three games for Nashville, then left for Europe. Chet Pickard (No. 18 overall, 2008) never made it to the NHL.
But even with that history, the Predators have said they are going for it.
“I would like to think we’re going to draft a goaltender or two here this year, just have to figure out where and when,” Predators director of scouting Jeff Kealty said on May 6.
Which goaltender could the Predators draft in 2025?
Only one goaltender is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 draft: Joshua Ravensbergen, who went 33-14-4 with the Prince George Cougars (WHL) last season, is ranked as high as No. 22 and as low as No. 32 in draft rankings on Elite Prospects. The 6-foot-4, 192-pound, right-catching goaltender has a .904 save percentage in 89 WHL games.
The top international goaltender prospect is Pyotr Andreyanov of Krasnaya Armiya Moskva in Russia. Andreyanov had a .942 save percentage in Russia’s developmental league (MHL) and is ranked as high as No. 38 and as low as No. 81 on Elite Prospects.
The Predators have five picks in the first two rounds of the 2025 draft. Using one on either of these two goaltenders would immediately upgrade their long-term prospects at the position.
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.
