Predators Continue to 'Restock' Blue Line with Addition of Jeremy Hanzel

Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced on March 7 that the team had acquired defenseman Jeremy Hanzel and a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Yakov Trenin and defenseman Graham Sward.

Hanzel, who was was selected in the sixth round (187th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft and ranked the No. 7 prospect in Colorado's pipeline by The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, joins a Predators organization looking to bolster its defensive depth. 

“We’ve got a number of forwards that are coming," Trotz said. "I think our forward group is good for the next couple of years. We need to get better at center ice, but our forward group is in really good shape. They can fill a lot of the holes that we have coming in the next couple of years. They’re there. The area that we have to restock now is the back end. We started doing that with [2023 first-round pick Tanner Molendyk] last year."

Hanzel, who signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Avalanche on March 7, is having a career year with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League in 2023-24. He has 52 points (14 goals, 38 assists) in 61 games for the Thunderbirds, pacing all Seattle skaters in points and assists and leading the club in goals by a defenseman. His 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) on the man advantage lead all Thunderbirds skaters in that category, as well.

"With Jeremy, we had good reports and our scouts liked him, and Colorado identified him as a good player," Trotz said. "They just signed him that day, or the day before. So obviously they thought the same way."

The 21-year-old has appeared in 213 career WHL games, all with the Thunderbirds from 2020-24, registering 141 points (36 goals, 105 assists). Hanzel has skated in 44 career postseason contests, collecting 35 points (seven goals, 28 assists) to help the Thunderbirds reach the WHL finals in 2022 and 2023.

Hanzel led the WHL in plus/minus rating in 2022-23, finishing the season +70. He appeared in 19 postseason games for the Thunderbirds, tallying 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) to help Seattle win the Ed Chynoweth Cup alongside fellow Predators prospects Reid Schaefer and Luke Prokop.

As Trotz looks to set the Predators up for the future by stockpiling proven, young players under team control for the next few years, Hanzel fits the bill. He is in his fourth and final season of junior hockey, and his growth and development year over year will make him a key player to watch as he makes the jump to the professional level next season.

"We talked to the young man, he got signed and they probably threw a jersey in the mail to him for signing," Trotz said. "All of a sudden, he gets a call and I'm talking to him and [Assistant GM] Brian Poile is talking to him. And he's coming here, and he's going to have a Predators jersey. So it must have been really weird for him, but at the same time, there's teams that like him. Obviously, Colorado liked him because they signed him; we liked him because we got him.”