Per a press release, Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced that the Predators have signed forward prospect Matthew Wood to an entry level contract that starts in the current (2024-25) season.
The 6 foot 4 inch 20 year old out of Nanaimo, British Columbia was drafted by the Predators in the 1st round (15th overall) of the 2023 draft out of the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL. He would continue his amateur career in the NCAA where he played two seasons at the University of Connecticut before transferring to the University of Minnesota for his junior season. On a talented Golden Gophers team, Wood’s production blossomed as he hit a point per game and notched 17 goals in 39 games before the team fell in the 1st round of the NCAA hockey tournament. Matthew Wood has also represented Team Canada in the World Junior Championships, the World U-18 Championship and the Hlinka Gretzky tournament.
As for the type of player coming into the system, Nashville is gaining a pure goal scorer. Penalty Box Radio’s prospect guru Eric Dunay describes Matthew Wood as “…an excellent goal scorer. He can pick corners from a distance, but he also put home a good number of goals by digging around high danger areas.” Also, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic calls Wood, “…a rangy, multi-dimensional shooter and goal-scoring forward who has silky hands for 6-foot-4”. For a Predators team that has lacked punch in terms of scoring, getting a player of Wood’s size and shooting talent into the system at the end of this season will help him to be a contributor that much sooner.
Per PuckPedia, Wood’s three year contract with Nashville will carry a $950,000 cap hit and potential performance bonuses in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.
Bio and statistics courtesy of PuckPedia and EliteProspects
