Milwaukee Admirals forward Joakim Kemell (25) gets a drink on the bench during practice Tuesday, May 13, 2025, at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Nashville Predators wrapped up rookie camp by taking two of three games at the NHL Prospect Tournament in Tampa, Florida.
Nashville’s prospects captured the first game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday and followed it up with a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday before falling to Florida on Monday.
While it may not have ended on a positive note, it gave the Predators' prospects who participated a chance to learn and gro with the ups and downs that make up professional hockey.
Now that rookie camp is completed, the prospects return home to prepare for training camp, which gets underway Wednesday.
Here are three takeaways from the tournament.
Martin Continues To Stand Out
If Brady Martin is hoping to send a message that he deserves to make his NHL debut this season, he did nothing to discourage those hopes during the prospect tournament.
The Predators’ fifth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft picked up a goal and an assist in the opener against the Lightning. The goal came when he was awarded a penalty shot after being hindered on a breakaway in the second period of the Preds’ 3-2 win.
On the play, Martin first went wide to his right, then cut back to the slot before putting a shot low blocker side to put the Predators ahead 2-1.
Martin’s helper came in the opening frame. After the Lightning scored first on a power play, he found Joakim Kemell at the top of the right circle. Kemell rifled a shot top-shelf to tie the game.
Martin didn’t score the rest of the tournament, but contributed in other ways on both ends of the ice. He wasn’t afraid to go for loose pucks, his passing was sharp, and he showed poise and maturity throughout the three games.
“He's competitive,” Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor said of Martin after the game. “I thought Brady played very well for his first kind of pro type of camp. He definitely looked like a guy that might have played in Milwaukee already with some maturity.”
Whether Martin suits up for NHL action in 2025-26 remains to be seen. But his play at the World Junior Summer Showcase in early August, coupled with his play at the prospect tournament, certainly gives the Predators brass something to think about.
Other Prospects Also Made Good Impressions
Kemell also turned some heads. The winger scored on the man advantage against Tampa Bay, then assisted on Reid Schaefer’s game-winning goal in the victory over Carolina.
On that play, Kemell zipped a beautiful cross-ice feed to defenseman Ryan Ufko after eluding several Hurricane defenders. Ufko then fed Schaefer on the doorstep for a tap-in.
Nashville’s 17th overall pick in 2022, Kemell appears ready for a crack at the NHL level. Unlike Martin, he has three seasons of AHL experience with the Admirals under his belt.
Even Schaefer was quick to give Kemell credit for his goal.
“I think it all starts with Kemell with that nice crossfeed pass to Ufko,” Schaefer told reporters after the win. “And then, obviously for ‘Uffy’ to find me there back door is a good play all around.”
Schaefer, whom the Predators acquired in a 2023 trade with the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Mattias Ekholm, is coming off a shoulder injury that caused him to miss most of last season. He used his 6-foot-4, 218-pound frame to fend off several Carolina attackers and deflect Ufko’s pass into the net for the game-winner.
Most likely, Shaefer will start 2025-26 in Milwaukee, but showed some promise during the tournament.
Some Valuable Lessons Were Learned
Game results are not the objective in prospect tournaments, but that doesn’t mean these young guys don’t want to win.
The Preds showed fight in their 6-1 loss to Florida, with Cole O’Hara scoring the club’s lone tally with four minutes left in regulation, his second of the tournament. The loss may not have counted in the standings, but it stung nonetheless.
“It was definitely a tough game today, not the way you want to go out, but I think we dug deep and we stuck through it,” Ufko said after the game. “The game wasn't going our way, but at the end, I think we were all glad we got one in.”
It’s a great reminder that things won’t always go your way, and that such losses can be a motivator.
“We fought through some things, but you leave with a bit of a stale taste,” Taylor said. “Maybe that's a good thing going into camp, right? So, we got humbled and a little bit exposed, and the players should be feeling like, ‘We need to focus on the next opportunity.’ And for them, that'll be main camp, playing with the big boys and being challenged playing with grown men.”
Main camp begins on Wednesday with off-ice meetings, and the first on-ice sessions come Thursday at Ford Ice Center Bellevue.