The Nashville Predators made a bold move this summer to address an organizational need, trading prospect winger Jesse Kiiskinen and a 2024 second-round pick that became Leo Sahlin Wallenius to the Detroit Red Wings for prospect defenseman Andrew Gibson.
Kiiskinen, 19, has had an impressive first season since being dealt away from the Predators organization. Playing in Liiga, Finland’s top hockey league, for the first time as a regular, Kiiskinen is already up to eight goals, 14 assists, and 22 points in 26 games with HPK.
For context, Kiiskinen had four goals, six assists, and 10 points in 38 games with the Lahti Pelicans last season while also spending some time with the Pelicans’ U20 squad.
The Predators’ former third-round pick recently brought his scoring prowess to the international stage, scoring in all but one of his appearances for Finland at the 2025 World Junior Championships.
Kiiskinen finished his tournament with goals in six consecutive games, including a crucial tally against Team USA in the Gold Medal game on Sunday. Officially, six goals, one assist, and seven points in seven games.
As for Gibson, he featured alongside fellow Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk as Canada’s top defensive pairing but also failed to record a point as Canada flopped to a fifth-place finish at the World Juniors for the second year in a row.
Additionally, Gibson’s kneeing penalty put Czechia on the power play on which they scored the game-winning goal with 40 seconds left, evaporating Canada’s chances of medalling at the tournament.
With Kiiskinen now out of the picture, the Predators do not have a clear-cut right winger in their system with elite scoring ability besides 2022 17th overall pick Joakim Kemell.
And, for the sake of comparison, Kemell had 27 goals, 11 assists, and 38 points with JYP in Liiga in his last 82 games with JYP. Kiiskinen, on the other hand, has 12 goals and 32 points in his last 54 Liiga games between the Pelicans and HPK.
Maybe Predators GM Barry Trotz’s idea to trade Kiiskinen and a second-round pick for a solid defenseman with limited upside was not the greatest.
Visit The Hockey News Nashville Predators team site to stay updated on the latest Predators news, game day coverage, player features, podcasts, and more.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
