The Nashville Predators have a long history of prioritizing forwards in the first round, but this year, the script could be flipped. For eight of the last nine drafts, Nashville has used its top pick on a forward—the lone exception being goaltender Yaroslav Askarov in 2020. However, with the No. 10 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Predators are eyeing a different path: adding a top-tier defenseman to their pipeline.

"It happens to be one of those years where there's a lot of high-end defensemen at the top," said Jeff Kealty, the team's director of scouting, during a media session at Bridgestone Arena on May 13. While Kealty stopped short of committing to any specific position, he acknowledged that this year's defensive class is too talented to ignore. "They have a lot of those attributes that we talk about that are projectable to be top-four type defensemen. We'll see how it plays out, but certainly there's going to be a lot of defensemen."

To put this in context, last year's draft saw defenseman Matthew Schaefer go No. 1 overall to the New York Islanders—and he went on to score 23 goals with 36 assists, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. But after Schaefer, only two of the first 10 picks and four of the first 20 were defensemen. The Predators selected Cameron Reid at No. 21 overall, the fifth defenseman taken in the entire draft.

This year, the landscape looks dramatically different. Elite Prospects' April rankings place five defensemen in the top 10 and eight in the top 20. Among the names to watch: Xavier Villeneuve of the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, projected at No. 6. With the Predators picking at No. 10, head amateur scout Tom Nolan hinted that the team might be leaning toward the blue line.

"It's a very deep draft in the top 15 for defensemen," Nolan said on May 13. "All of them bring a different type of skill set, but they all have size and are really good skaters. We're hoping that maybe one of them can fall to us."

Two names to keep an eye on are Rudolph and Verhoeff. Rudolph, a 6-foot-2, 203-pound right-handed defenseman, brings the kind of physical presence and skating ability that fits Nashville's system. For fans and collectors alike, this draft represents a shift in strategy—and a chance to add a future cornerstone to the Predators' defense corps.