NASHVILLE - The Nashville Predators are in the closing stages of finalizing the 2026-27 opening night roster after an abbreviated training camp. Last week Nashville management assigned forward Brady Martin to the AHL to begin this year with the Milwaukee Admirals.
The Predators selected Martin with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He played in three October NHL games last year, tallying an assist before being assigned to the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL for the remainder of the season. Martin had a strong summer, helping Team Canada win the 2025 IIHF World U18 Championships with two goals in the gold medal game.
Martin came to Predators training camp on a high note and played well in the exhibition games, but a crowded roster of veterans led management to assign him to the AHL to open the season.
"I think just to kind of get him going," Andrew Brunette said. "I think he's been a center-ice man, and we're pretty full at the center position right now. So we want him to go down and play center and see how he does and get some reps, play big minutes, touch pucks. Especially as a young player here, we don't want to stunt his development by maybe not playing a lot of games, a lot of minutes right now."
Nashville is loaded at the center position after new general manager Chris MacFarland's offseason work. The Predators returned Ryan O'Reilly and Matthew Wood and added Mavrik Bourque , Jack Drury , and KHL standout Vitali Pinchuk up the middle. Martin could play on the wing, but the Predators see him as a center in the NHL and want him to keep developing there.
"Everything was kind of in the cards a little bit," Brunette said. "I think just some other guys have kind of stepped up. Again, I don't want him in and out of the lineup. We want him to get down there and play every day, and hopefully we'll see him soon"
This will be the 19-year-old's first season in the AHL and should serve as the perfect place for his development to continue. The Admirals open the season on Oct. 3 and play 10 games in the first month of the year, offering him numerous opportunities to hone his skills.
"I just think we had a deeper team this year, especially up front," Brunette said. "I thought he had a good camp. I thought it was as expected. Obviously, last year he had a great camp, was probably the difference. This year, with how short it was, I thought the start of his camp wasn't great. I thought he got a little bit better as we got going, and obviously his exhibition games were pretty good. But it's, again, a young player that we've got to make sure we develop in the right way, and when he plays here, we want him to be an impactful player, not just someone in and out of the lineup."
The NHL roster deadline is Monday, Sept. 28, at 4 p.m. CT, meaning Nashville management has more decisions to make soon, but for now, one of its best young players will open the year with the Milwaukee Admirals.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/predators/onsi as Why Brady Martin Will Begin 2026-27 Season in AHL .
