Where Every Nashville Predators Prospect is Playing in This Season

The Predators have one of the best young talent pools in the National Hockey League.

Michigan State's Ryker Lee, right, moves the puck against Notre Dame's Pano Fimis during the third period on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing. / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Nashville Predators have quietly assembled one of the best young talent pools in the National Hockey League. A handful of prospects are looking to impress Nashville's front office when rookie camp kicks off on Sept. 11, but many already have plans for the 2026-27 season.

NCAA

Thirteen Predators will be playing hockey at the college level, giving it the highest concentration of future Broadway stars in one league. The most play in the Big 10, where Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Ohio State have two prospects each.

Big 10

• Michigan: Jack Ivankovic, Cameron Reid
• Michigan State: Ryker Lee, Tommy Bleyl
• Minnesota: Jacob Rombach, Wyatt Cullen
• Ohio State: Jakub Milota, Erik Pahlsson

Hockey East

• Boston College: Teddy Stiga
• Boston University: Viktor Norringer
• Maine: Miguel Marques

ECAC Hockey

• Harvard: Alex Huang, Justin Graf

Milwaukee Admirals

Five Nashville prospects look to impress at training camp and earn a spot on the NHL roster, but should they come up short they'll play in the American Hockey League for the Milwaukee Admirals.

• Forward, Aiden Fink
• Forward, Ben Strinden
• Forward, Brady Martin
• Forward, Hiroki Gojsic
• Defense, Viggo Gustafsson

Fink played his third season with Penn State last year before scoring 10 points in six games with the Admirals. Strinden completed his fourth season with North Dakota and played in three games for Milwaukee last year. Martin was initially with the Predators, but rejoined the Soo Greyhounds for his third junior season before being called up to Milwaukee for three playoff games. Gojsic played his final junior season with the Kelowna Rockets and scored 41 points in the Canadian Hockey League. Gustafsson played in six regular-season games and two playoff games for Milwaukee last year after playing 40 games in Sweden's second professional league.

Canadian Hockey League

Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League

• Val-d'Or Foreurs: Benjamin Cossette-Ayotte

Ontario Hockey League

• Kitchener Rangers: Charlie Puglisi

Cossette-Ayotte recorded 54 assists over the past two seasons with Val-d'Or, while Puglisi will make his CHL debut out of The Winchendon School in New England.

Finland

Finnish Elite League

• Lukko: Jakub Floris
• Pelicans: Daniel Nieminen

Floris was drafted this past summer by the Predators and moves up to Lukko's senior team this year, while Nieminen is coming off a career year for Pelicans, scoring five goals, with 12 assists in 47 goals, leading among Liiga U-21 defensemen in assists.

Sweden

Swedish Elite League

• Rögle BK: Felix Nilsson
• IF Bkörklöven: Philip Hemmyr

Nilsson tallied a career high 14 goals and 26 assists in 52 games for Rögle BK, leading the team in points and ranking first among U-21 SHL skaters in points and assists, making him a name to keep an eye on. Hemmyr helped IF Bkörklöven get promoted to the Swedish Elite League, putting up 12 points in 36 games last season.

Russia

Kontinental Hockey League

• Lokomotiv Yaroslavl: Egor Surin

Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga

• Lok 76 Yaroslavl: Dmitri Borichev

Surin helped Lokomotiv win its second consecutive Gagarin Cup, scoring 15 goals in 57 regular-season games in the KHL. He's one of the Predators' best prospects and enters the final season under contract in Russia. Borichev is an unproven goaltender who went 12-8-3 with a .929 save percentage as a rookie in the MHL.

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