Nashville selected Dan Hamhuis with their First Round Pick (12^th Overall) in 2001, and the Predators had high hopes for the former CHL Defenseman of the Year.

Hamhuis spent his first year of professional hockey in the AHL, and in his rookie NHL year (2002-03), he scored 26 Points, with would be a career-high 7 Goals.  He matched his goal output in 2005-06 but had career-bests in Assists (31) and Points (38).  Hamhuis continued to be productive, but he never developed the potency expected of him, though he was undoubtedly more than a solid NHL player.

As the Predators developed Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, Hamhuis was relegated to a lower defensive pairing, and he became expendable and was traded to Philadelphia after the 2009-10 Season. 

Hamhuis rejoined Nashville as a Free Agent in 2018, and he played two more years before retiring in 2020.  174 of his 356 career Points was in a Predators uniform.

Far more than the husband of Country icon, Carrie Underwood, Mike Fisher cut his teeth in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, a team he played 11 years for.  Fisher was never Ottawa's best player, but he was a bona fide leader who was a solid two-way player and a key figure in their Stanley Cup Final in 2007. The Senators missed their window, and Fisher was traded to the Nashville Predators in the 2010-11 Season, who was thrilled to get his veteran presence.

With Nashville, Fisher approached his personal best, a 51-Point year in 2011-12, two Points shy of his best mark.  Fisher was not a player that would make an All-Star Game, but the way he left everything out there on the ice earned him the 2012 Foundation Player Award.  This unique accolade is given to the player "who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance, and teamwork to enrich the lives of people within the community."  If this wasn't a perfect honor for Fisher, we don't know what it is!

Fisher would have two 40-Point plus years with the Preds, and his presence was instrumental in their run to the Finals in 2017.  Age caught up with Fisher, who temporarily retired after the Finals but came back for one more year before calling it quits for good in 2018.

As a Predator, Fisher scored 241 Points.

From Wisconsin, Craig Smith was a high First Round Pick (9^th Overall) in 2009, but he played two years at the University of Wisconsin before signing with the Predators.  The NCAA seasoning was adequate, as he became the first Nashville Draft Pick to join the team without serving time in the AHL.

Smith had 36 Points in his rookie season but plummeted to just 12 in 44 Games in his second year.  The Center would have his first 50-plus year in 2013-14, scoring 52, which was his career-high as a Predator.  He had 51 Points in 2017-18, with another career-best of 25 Goals.  Following the 2019-20 Season, Smith signed with the Bruins as a Free Agent.

Smith had 330 Points and a Plus/Minus of +67 in 661 Games.

The more we do this, the more we view the NHL Amateur Draft as a mystery.  Constantly, there are First Round Pick who never make it to the big dance, and there are mid-to-late Round Picks who have long careers, and Martin Erat fell into the latter category.

The Nashville Predators chose Erat 191^st Overall in 1999, and the Right Wing from the Czech Republic made the team two years later.  Erat’s rookie year was decent (33 Points), but he struggled as a sophomore, so much so that he was demoted to the AHL for most of the year.  With the sophomore slump in his rearview mirror, Erat was set to be an established NHL player.

Erat had 49 Points in 2003-04 and repeated that in 2005-06, the year after the NHL Lockout.  He would again replicate Point outputs, this time of 57 in 2006-07 and 2007-08, and Erat would have at least 49 Points over the next four seasons.  Erat was not a top line player but a strong second line player and a valuable commodity to the Predators when he played there.

After he turned 30, Erat was traded to Washington.  As a Predator, Erat accumulated 481 Points in 723 Games.

Mike Dunham won the William M. Jennings Trophy as a rookie, but he was never going to get the lion's share of the goaltending duties for the team he won that award with.  How could he?  He was playing for the New Jersey Devils, who had Martin Brodeur.  With the growth of the NHL to Nashville, he had the starting opportunity as the Predators plucked him in the Expansion Draft.

In the first four years of Nashville's existence, Dunham was their primary netminder.  The Predators were a typical expansion team in that they lost more games than they won, but Dunham proved that he deserved the workload.  Dunham faced a barrage of shots due to the substandard Nashville defense, but he held his own, especially in the 2000-01 Season, where he was second in Save Percentage (.923) and had a strong 2.33 GAA.

The Predators traded Dunham to the Rangers during the 2002-03 season, and while Dunham had a losing record, he did well for the team.

Juuse Soros is still a Predator as of this writing, and arguably he is either on the cusp of greatness.

Drafted in 2013, Finland’s Saros arrived in North America two years later, bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL and earning All-Rookie honors in 2017-18, though he only played 26 Games that year.  Saros became the lead Goalie in 2019, and two years ago, he had his breakout season, finishing sixth for the Vezina with a 2.28 GAA.  

Saros built on his solid 2021-21 with an even better 2022-23 where he was third in Vexina voting with a 2.64 GAA and the league lead in Goalie Point Shares with 14.0.  He again led the NHL in Goalie Point Shares in 2022/23 (14.9) and was fourth in Vezina voting, but the Predators struggled overall, and failed to make the playoffs., but last year, he backstopped Nashville back to the post-season and was fifth in Vezina voting.  Notably, Saros has led the NHL in Shots Againts and Saves, and has exceed 3,600 Minutes in the last three campaigns.

The workhorse enters this year as a near-the-top Goalie and the biggest wrkhorse of the last two years. 

A late round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 1993, Kimmo Timonen continued to play in his native Finland for a few years, but when he decided to try his luck in the NHL it was with the Nashville Predators, who traded for his rights.

The Defenseman split his first North American year between Nashville and their AHL affiliate, Milwaukee, but Timonen proved a commodity worth keeping at the top level of pro hockey.  After a pair of respectable seasons, Timonen put forth three consecutive 40 Points seasons, culminating with his first All-Star Game in 2004.

The NHL locked out their players in the 2004-05 due to a labor disagreement, but Timonen’s skills continued to improve.  When play resumed, Timonen had his first 50-Point Season, which he followed up with what would be his career-best 55 Points in 2006-07.  Timonen would go to his second All-Star Game, and was fifth in Norris voting.

Timonen’s stay in Nashville ended when the Preds traded him and Scott Hartnell for a 2007 First Round Pick, who turned out to be Jonathon Blum, who never played a game in the NHL.  In 2015, his final NHL year in the NHL, Timonen aided Chicago in winning a Stanley Cup.

As a Predator, Timonen scored 301 Points in 579 Games.

In 1998, the Nashville Predators made David Legwand the first ever Draft Pick in team history, and in terms of longevity and character, it was an A+ all around.

The American-born Center spent his first year in the minors (save for one Game), and while he never had the skills to be a first line Center in the NHL, he was a workhorse who provided consistency to Nashville for years.  Legwand was a regular in his second pro year, and while his peak scoring year was a respectable 63 (2006-07), he had seven other seasons where he achieved at least 40 Points in a year while wearing a Predators uniform.  He would also appear on the penalty kill often.

The Preds only made the playoffs four times while Legwand played there, but considering they were an expansion team, this was no reflection on Legwand.  He was traded to Detroit during the 2013-14 Season, and he is still the all-time franchise leader in Games Played (956), Goals (210), and Points (566).

While it was projected that Shea Weber was going to have a good career in the National Hockey League, the native of British Columbia turned out to be an absolute steal for the Nashville Predators, who landed him late in the Second Round.

A large and imposing Defenseman, Weber debuted for the Predators in 2005-06, appearing in 26 Games, but it did not accurately foreshadow what was to come.  Weber exploded with 40 Points in 2006-07, showing strong two-way play.  Using his size to lock down attackers, Weber became one of the most potent rushers, and his booming shot made him a terror on the power play.  Weber would net at least 40 Points as a Predator eight times, with all of those years netting 15 Goals or more.

Weber was the player who Nashville built their team around, and individually, he was a four-time post-season All-Star; two First Team and two Second Team.  He was not just their best player but emerged as the team leader and was recognized as such with the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2016.  It would be the last honor that Weber received in Nashville, as he was traded to Montreal for P.K. Subban.

With the Predators, Weber accumulated 443 Points in 763 Games, with a Plus/Minus of +48, a very impressive tally considering that Nashville was not a contender for much of his stay.

Ryan Suter was the Seventh Overall Pick in 2003, and the native of Wisconsin elected to stay in his home state, playing for the University of Wisconsin for a full year before he signed with the team that drafted him, the Nashville Predators.

Suter joined the Predators in the year of the 2004-05 NHL lockout, meaning that he was in the AHL for his entire first pro season but was primed for the elite level in 2005-06.  In 2007-08, Suter scored 31 Points, beginning a five-year run with Nashville where he cracked that mark.  In two of those seasons, Suter eclipsed the 40-Point threshold, with a 46-Point year in 2011-12, where he was eighth for the Norris.  As it would turn out, this was Suter's high-water mark with Nashville.

Suter signed with Minnesota as a Free Agent in the 2012 off-season, and while his numbers with Nashville (238 Points) were good, Suter had a better run with the Wild.

Pekka Rinne was an afterthought in the 2004 NHL Draft, where Nashville took the Finnish Goalie with the 258^th Overall Pick.  For a "throwaway," Rinne is to date the best Predator Goalie of all time and likely will be for years.

Rinne played in three Games from 2005-06 to 2007-08, but he broke through in 2008-09, playing in 52 Games and finishing fourth in Calder voting.  Nashville had a new backstop, and he was ready to elevate the Predators.

In the 2010-11 Season, Rinne had his breakout campaign, with a 2.12 GAA that won him a Second Team All-Star, a runner-up for the Vezina, and a fourth place finish in the Hart Trophy.  Rinne was now an upper-tier Goalie, and this was not a one-year aberration.  

Rinne led the NHL in Wins (43) and Saves (2,153) in 2011-12, with a 2.39 GAA, and he was third for the Vezina.  Rinne's next two years were a step back, but he rebounded with another Vezina runner-up year (2014-15), with a Stanley Cup Finals appearance two years later.  It was evident that with Rinne in the net, Nashville had the building block from the end.

The Predators went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017, and Rinne was incredible to get them there and had they beat Pittsburgh, he would have won the Conn Smythe Trophy.  They didn't, but his accomplishments should never be forgotten.  Rinne finally won the Vezina the year after, proving his backstopping prowess as a top hockey Goalie.

Rinne finished his career with the Predators, winning the King Clancy Award in 2021, which turned out to be his last season in North American hockey.  Retiring, the Predators announced that his #35 would be retired, earning the Goalie the honor of being the first Predator to have his jersey retired.

When the Nashville Predators were formed, they knew they needed a backstop to work from their end out, and Czech Goalie Tomas Vokoun proved to be the correct building block to build on.

 In 2004-05 Vokoun had only played one game in the NHL, as he was mostly in the minors, but he was ready to show his skills with Nashville.  Before long, Vokoun was the prime backstop for the Predators, and he would earn Vezina votes in both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Season.

After the lockout in 2004-05, Vokoun had his best professional season, where he had a 36-18-7 record and a 2.67 GAA.  He was fourth for the Vezina, the best he ever finished, and Vokoun was a large part of Nashville’s early success.

Vokoun was traded to Florida in 2007, and he left with a 161-159-46 record.

Ryan Ellis played his first ten years in the National Hockey League with the Nashville Predators, the team that selected him 11^th Overall in 1999,

The Defenseman was somewhat of an enigma, as he had a physical style of play, despite not having an imposing size nor logging significant penalty minutes.  From 2013-14 to 2019-20, Ellis scored at least 20 Points, with a pair of 10-Goal campaigns.  

Ellis had 270 Points for the Preds over 562 Games.

Mattias Ekholm played the first twelve years of his NHL career with the Predators, drafted in 2009 (102^nd Overall) and arriving in 2012.

Ekholm spent his first year in North America in the Minors, and he would become a jack-of-all-trades blueliner for Nashville.  Ekholm might not be a player who will dazzle your senses, but the Swedish native does use his size expertly to either attack or defend and is equally skilled on the power play and penalty kill.  While he has never been named an All-Star, Ekholm finished tenth in Norris Trophy voting in 2018-19, the same season he was second in Defensive Point Shares.  

His long run with the Predators ended when the struggling team traded him to the Edmonton Oilers at the 2023 trade deadline.  The Defenseman socred 268 Points over 719 Games for Nashville.

As of this writing, Filip Forsberg has played all of his career with the Nashville Predators, the organization where the Swedish Center has showcased his skills.

Forsberg debuted with Nashville after the Washington Capitals drafted him in 2012.  The Center was a First Team All-Rookie in 2014-15, scoring 63 Points, and he cracked the 50-Point mark that year and the next four seasons after.  He dipped below 50 Points in the two seasons after, but in 2021/22, Forsberg rebounded with 42 Goals, 42 Assists, and 84 Points, and emerged as the Predator's top Center in team history.  Forsberg fell to 42 Points in 2022/23 (though he only played in 50 Games), but last season he put forth career-bests in Goals (46), Assists (46) and Points (92) and for the first time was a post-season All-Star with a Second Team Selection..

Still a Predator, Forsberg has provided offensive punch to the Nashville roster for years and could for years coming.

Already the greatest Swiss-born hockey player of all time, Roman Josi has to date played his entire NHL career with the Nashville Predators, the team that drafted him in the Second Round in 2008.

Josi continued to play in Switzerland for two years, honing his skills there, and then had another entire season in the minors.  His first two NHL years could be considered average, but he evolved, using his high-tier skating skills and passing ability to become one of the top offensive Defensemen in the game.

Josi scored 40 Points in 2013-14, beginning a seven-year streak where he hit that point with at least 12 Goals.  He had two 60-Point seasons, the latter in 2019-20, where he won the Norris Trophy as the league's best Defenseman.  Prior to that, Jossi finished in the top ten in balloting four times.  He has also become a team leader and was one of the biggest reasons that the Preds made the 2017 Finals.

In 2021/22, Josi had his best statistical season, setting personal bests in Goals (23), Assists (73) and Points (96), and obtaininghis second First Team All-Star Selection, though the Norris eluded him as it went to Colorado's Cale Makar.  After another good year, Josi was the runner-up for the Norris, and was a First Team All-Star for the third time after an 85 Point year.

Josi is already the best player in Nashville history, and their team captain isn't done yet.

When you are taken 256^th Overall in the NHL Amateur Draft, just making it to the largest North American hockey league is hard enough.  Putting that in perspective, what Finnish Goalie, Pekka Rinne accomplished was miraculous.

Drafted in 2004, Rinne played a combined three NHL Games in his first three years in the United States, but he was clearly a netminder on the rise, and he became Nashville’s top Goalie in 208, a role he held for well over a decade.

Rinne was named a Second Team All-Sar in 2010-11, finishing second for the Vezina, and he was third for that trophy the following year where he led the NHL in Wins (43).  As Nashville improved around him, Rinne was able to lead the Predators to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017.  Nashville did not win the Cup, but the Preds were contenders because of his efforts.

In the following year, Rinne, who was twice second for the Vezina, would win that elusive award on the strength of his 42-13-4 Record and 2.31 GAA.  Rinne never had another season like that again, and he played three more years before retiring with a 368-212-75 lifetime record with a 2.43 GAA.

In an interview with the Tennesseean, Nashville Predators Captain, Mike Fisher has officially announced his retirement from the National Hockey League. 

The 37 year old Center played 1,088 career games accumulating 276 Goals and 388 Assists over a seventeen year career split between Nashville and his original NHL team, the Ottawa Senators.

It was in Ottawa, where he had his best seasons, twice finishing in the top five Frank J. Selke Award balloting for the league’s top defensive forward.  Ottawa had a lot of great teams which Fisher was a part of and he helped them reach the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship, though they would go down to defeat at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. 

Fisher would be traded in the 2010-11 season to Nashville, which allowed him to be with his wife, country superstar Carrie Underwood.  In what would be his final, and still productive season he helped take Nashville to the Stanley Cup Finals, although they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Fisher was named the team’s captain that year.

While Mike Fisher is not likely to get a call from the Hockey Hall of Fame, he is a player that both the Senators and Predators might consider honoring in some capacity.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Mike Fisher on having a memorable career and wish him the best in his post-playing career.

Known for his leadership, two-way hockey and (his wife, Carrie Underwood), Mike Fisher spent a lot of time with the Ottawa Senators would later Captain the Nashville Predators.  Fisher was regarded a very good defensive forward and three times he was in the top ten in Frank J. Selke Award voting.  An All-Star in 2015, Fisher would go down as one of the most respected locker room leaders in the game.

From the Czech Republic, Tomas Vokoun had a fantastic career in the NHL, most notably with the Nashville Predators where he had three straight seasons where he finished in the top ten in Vezina Trophy voting with a 10^th, 8^th and 4^th place finish in the 2003/04, 04/05 and 06/07 respectively.  The year after the two-time NHL All-Star would play for the Florida Panthers and would lead the league in Goalie Point Shares.