“We didn’t think he’d come to us” – Predators delighted to get Joakim Kemell in 2022 first-round NHL Draft pick
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Joakim Kemell
It was a good surprise for the Nashville Predators to find the high-scoring forward Joakim Kemell around during their No. 17 2022 first-round NHL Draft pick. Their shocked emotions were expressed as they found they were lacking in name bars to put on the 18-year-old forward. They had a handful of it which was already put on the back of the prospective first-round pick’s jersey, while Kemell was not one of them.
Scott Nichol the Predators’ assistant general manager and director of player development commented, “We didn’t even have a name bar for him because we didn’t think he’d come to us”. “That’s how highly ranked we had him on our list. For him to come to 17 … We were squeezing the table and waiting, hoping no one was going to take him. So we were super excited.”
Joakim Kemell joined the Nashville Predators
Joakim Kemell was part of the JYP of the Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. During the 2021-22 season, he scored 23 points with 15 goals and 8 assists in 39 games while coming first in goals and tied for second in points, and tied for second overall in goals for JYP, as reported on nhl.com. In the first round of the 2022 Draft, Kemell was the fourth forward selected by the Predators.
About Kemell, Scott Nichol stated, “He scores, he’s dynamic and he’s built really well (5-foot-11, 182 pounds) for a young kid,”. “We need some scoring. It’s tough to teach goal-scoring, and he can score. He’s got an NHL release and shot, and they find ways of going in.” “I think he’s got a good motor on him like [Arvidsson]. He has a knack to score like Pastrnak. He finds areas. He knows where to go to score goals.”
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Kaushani Chatterjee
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