Predators’ Adam Wilsby Out For Season With Upper-Body Injury

Fresh off a two-year extension, Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby’s season is over. The team announced he’s been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the 2024-25 campaign with the upper-body injury that cost him nine of the Preds’ final 17 games before the break. In additional moves, the team issued winger Zachary L’Heureux a week-to-week designation for his upper-body injury and moved him to IR. They also activated veteran Mark Jankowski from injured reserve, so at least he’ll be available coming out of the break after missing the last month with an upper-body issue.

The 24-year-old Wilsby’s first NHL campaign ends after 23 games. Drafted 101st overall in 2020 out of Swedish second-tier club Södertälje SK, he’s played stateside since 2022 and was working his way up the organizational ladder. His point totals in the minors never jumped off the page, posting 10-34–44 in 146 career appearances with AHL Milwaukee to date, but he’s a well-rounded talent with good passing ability who hasn’t posted a negative rating at any level since his draft year in the HockeyAllsvenskan.

Wilsby’s entry-level contract expired last summer, so he signed a two-way deal to cover the 2024-25 campaign nearly three weeks into restricted free agency. He didn’t make the team out of camp, but he continued to chug along the minors and got his first look in the NHL lineup in late November after a lower-body injury sidelined Jeremy Lauzon, who’s also now out for the rest of the year.

He’s stuck around on the roster since his debut, not at all looking out of place. It might be easy to overlook his one goal and four assists on the year, but he’s logged significant even-strength minutes for the Preds and has even seen some shorthanded action. The 6’1″ lefty averaged 18:06 per game with a plus-three rating – second on the team behind Nick Blankenburg’s plus-nine – and recorded 17 blocks and 18 hits. He may not be overly physical, but his +4.5 expected rating at even strength leads Nashville defenders and his 52.8% Corsi share at even strength is quite respectable as well. That well-rounded initial showing earned him some security – albeit a league-minimum salary with a two-way structure the first year – for the next two seasons.

While Nashville will be disappointed not to see how he performs down the stretch, especially since he’d seen more than 20 minutes of deployment in recent outings, he’s done enough to put himself…