Is it October yet?
Unfortunately, no, but we're here to help pass the time. From Aug. 8 to Sept. 1, The Hockey News Nashville Predators will be counting down 24 players in 24 days, profiling every current or potentially rostered player.
Today's player profile is forward Matthew Wood.
24 Nashville Predators in 24 days series
As an NHL prospect
The Predators like big players, and Wood is just that, as he measured at 6-feet-4-inches and 193 pounds ahead of the 2023 NHL Draft.
From Lethbridge, Alberta, Wood played two years in juniors with the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League. He tallied 48 points in 64 games before moving on to play at the University of Connecticut.
In his lone season in the BCHL, he earned a plethora of honors including All-Rookie Team, First All-Star Team, Rookie of the Year and the Brett Hull Trophy awarded to the top scorer in the league.
In his draft year, Wood scored an impressive 34 points in 35 games and recorded a low four penalty minutes. He was also named to the Hockey East's All-Rookie Team.
Wood's draft stock rose as he was taken 15th overall by the Nashville Predators.
He'd return to UConn for one more season, scoring 28 points in 35 games before transferring to the University of Minnesota for the 2024-25 season. With the Golden Gophers, he scored 39 points in 39 games and had another low penalty maker in just 16 minutes.
Wood also represented Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, scoring four points in five games.
Professional career
Toward the end of the regular season, Wood made his debut with the Nashville Predators.
He scored one point in six games and had two penalty minutes, still looking for his first career goal in the NHL.
Wood is in the second year of his 3 year, $2.85 million entry level contract.
What role will he play this season?
Wood will likely stay up with the Predators this season because he is exactly what this team needs and what Barry Trotz needs in order to maintain this franchise's identity.
He's big, he can score, and he can be physical without racking up the penalty minutes. In junior and college, he's proven all of that. Wood had a bit of a sophomore year slump, but bounced back his junior year with a different team.
The Predators would likely want him at center as a bigger player who prefers passing the puck over scoring, but he's found a lot of success on the wing.
It'll be really interesting to see what the Predators do with Wood and where they want him, or need him, in the lineup. This player has a lot of potential.
His six games in the league last year should not be foretelling of his future in the league. Wood needs time to adjust, and it was a very small sample size at the end of a brutal season.