Nash Daily: Scouts Speak Ahead of Draft, Leafs Force Game 5

Ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft, Nashville Predators assistant general manager/director of scouting Jeff Kealty and chief amateur scout Tom Nolan met with reporters to discuss the team’s draft preparations.

Michael Gallagher will have the latest news about the Predators upcoming draft plans later today.

Last night, the NHL announced the finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award. San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid, and Boston Bruins forward David Pastrnak were voted by their peers. The award represents the “most outstanding player” as voted by the players and National Hockey League Players’ Association.

Nashville Hockey Now 

While the Predators and their scouting department dive into the draft, the Milwaukee Admirals are prepping for their Central Division Final showdown with the Texas Stars. Game 1 begins Friday. Ads coach Karl Taylor confirmed that goaltender Yaroslav Askarov will be the starter to open the series.

“He’s a good young prospect,” he said. “His game was growing all season. Again, I would attribute that to (goaltending development coach) Dave Rook and our goalie staff.

Milwaukee faces the regular-season Central Division champions after the Stars swept the Rockford Ice Hogs in three games in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

If you want more Admirals playoff analysis, or you’re looking for some preliminary draft banter including who the Predators could be targeting, be sure to listen to the latest episode of our Gold Standard podcast, which can be found here.

Around the NHL & National Hockey Now 

Flordia Hockey Now: The Maple Leafs survived elimination in Sunrise, Florida Wednesday night, winning 2-1. It’s Toronto’s first win in the second round since April 30, 2004. They’ll return home for Game 5 which starts on Friday at 6 p.m.

After a scoreless opening period, William Nylander opened the scoring on the power play, nothing his third goal of the postseason. Mitch Marner scored the eventual game-winner halfway through the third period before Sam Reinhart cut Toronto’s lead to 2-1 with his sixth goal of the playoffs two minutes later.

While Florida didn’t get to bust out the broom sticks, the Panthers sit with a comfortable 3-1 lead in the series. Here is a deeper look at Game 4.

Philly Hockey Now: It appears there’s a new sheriff in town in the city of brotherly love. The Philadelphia Flyers made it official naming Keith Jones their new President of Hockey Operations and named Daniel Briere the new GM after holding the interim tag the last few months. Jones played 491 NHL games, the final 131 with the Flyers.

Click here for the latest news on the Flyers organization, including how they might approach the rest of the offseason under their new regime.

Vegas Hockey Now: Neither the Edmonton Oilers nor Vegas Golden Knights went down without Wednesday night as they duked it out to end Game 4. Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo slashed forward Leon Draisaitl while going for an empty net goal.

Draisaitl is on a record-breaking goal-scoring pace in the playoffs as he has netted 13 goals so far in 10 games. Former Flyers forward Reggie Leach holds the all-time record for postseason goals scored with 19 in 16 games during the 1975-76 postseason.

Edmonton claimed the early lead in the first period and didn’t look back. Former Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm scored his first playoff goal as an Oiler to conclude the opening 20 minutes. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the lone goal in the second period as the Oilers skated their way to a 4-1 victory to even the series 2-2.

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