Predators' Draft German Rubtsov 23rd Overall. 2016-07-26 Starting from the 5th round, the Predators last pick in the draft was Ty Ronning. A 5'9, 165lbs forward from Vancouver in the WHL. He was selected at 132nd overall. A small but industrious speedster that always seeks to be engaged in the play. Skates very well and has the shiftiness to avoid being rubbed out. Isn't afraid of physical play, but knows his role as an offensive catalyst and plays to his strengths. Excellent hands and hockey sense. Only knock is his size, but that doesn't impede his compete level. Possesses the fundamental skills and natural goal scoring instincts that make the players around him better. "We're really excited to add Ronning to our organization." Wolf said. "We've been following Ronning all year, particularly because his father, Cliff Ronning, was one of my favourite players growing up. Ty has hockey bloodlines, and his game mirrors a lot of his fathers. Ty also lead a very poor Vancouver Giants team in scoring this year, so that was another factor that really made us like him. We're thrilled to add him to the Predators family." The Predators had two 5th round picks, they elected to use their first 5th round pick on Dryden Hunt from Moose Jaw of the WHL. He was selected at 125th overall. Hunt scored 58 goals for the Moose Jaw Warriors as a 20-year-old. The WHL's leading scorer and Player of the Year, he has a well-rounded game and can score or create chances for teammates in myriad ways. As with many overage scorers who put up big numbers in junior hockey but were never drafted, however, the supplementary areas of his game are still developing. "Dryden Hunt was a very intriguing prospect to us. He was passed over in the draft twice, but a big part of that is because he was limited to only 2 games because of a serious injury in his draft year." Wolf said. "Because of that, we don't view him as a typical overager that usually scores a lot of points. He missed an entire year of playing, but was able to still breakout" Wolf continued, "He's an overager that won player of year award honors in the WHL. Which is something you can't ignore. We feel he has raw enough tools to translate his skillset over a set period of time and grow up the ranks in our organization." With the Predators 4th round pick, they drafted towering defenseman Stepan Falkosvky from the Ottawa 67's in the WHL. He was selected 112th overall. A gigantic two-way defenceman that displays good offensive and defensive instincts. Quicker decision making is something he will have to work on, but he has already shown progress as he develops into a reliable two-way player. Excellent shot and passing ability in the offensive end. Becoming more physical and can create separation decisively. Proactive defensively and shows good instincts when moving the puck out. All-in-all, a poised and reliable defenceman that has the potential to develop into a strong, physical two-way player. "We're very excited to add a player like Falkovsky. He's a defenseman from Belarus that came over to NA last year. He stands at 6'7 and is already 225lbs. We wanted to focus on bulking up our blueline, and we're quite excited to have Falkovsky with the Predators, and help him with his development as he is still very raw. He put up some good numbers as a rookie and we anticipate he will only improve from here. We really wanted him in the Preds organization and I'm thrilled to have him." The Predators did not own any 3rd or 2nd round picks. However they had a selection in the 1st round who they elected to draft Russian forward German Rubtsov from the U18 team. He was selected 23rd overall. German Rubtsov plays a strong two-way game, highlighted by his strong hockey sense. Offensively he makes smart plays with the puck, showing off good vision, and excellent anticipation of where his teammates will be. This makes him a very good playmaker. Rubtsov has the ability to control and protect the puck with excellent stick handling. He is very patient and slows the game down, waiting for teammates to get open and then making tape-to-tape passes to the now open teammates. He also has the ability to find soft areas in the defence and get open to make a play, or take a one-timer. He has a good arsenal of shots, including a strong wrist shot, snap shot and slap shot. He gets his shots off quickly with an excellent release. Rubtsov shows a high compete level, he battles hard for loose pucks and is effective at forcing defencemen into mistakes on the forecheck. "Rubtsov is the best Russian prospect to come out of Russia this season. He's definitely a project at this stage in terms of his development. He'll spend the next 2 years in the KHL. So we can really take our time in developing him and there's no rush for him to make the EHE." Wolf said. "We are extremely high on this kid and we were really quite thrilled he was still on the board at our pick. His toolset should flawlessly translate to the EHE when he does come over and we fully anticipate him being a top 6 forward for us down the road. We couldn't be more thrilled." Wolf concluded.
