CHL notebook: Predators prospect Willis has ‘The Secret’ to success

Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

"The Secret" has been the secret to Joey Willis' success this season.

The Nashville Predators forward prospect read the best-selling self-help book last summer and said it's brought a new mindfulness off the ice that has helped him on the ice.

"It's just like your thoughts are what your reality is," Willis said. "So, when you change your thoughts and make it your reality, things change. I'm a big believer in that.

"If you have a negative mindset, or you're negative by yourself, you're going to have negative throughout your entire life. So, if you start to think more positively, positive things come into your life."

Willis has had a great deal of positive the past two seasons. In 2023-24, he had 50 points (14 goals, 36 assists) in 66 games with Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League and helped it win the Memorial Cup, including a goal and assist against London in the championship game. He then had two assists in two games to help the United States win the gold medal at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.

This season, he has 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) in 36 OHL games, including eight points (four goals, four assists) in 10 games since being traded by Saginaw to Kingston on Jan. 7. Kingston is 9-3-0 since the trade and one point out of first place in the East Division.

"'Trotzy' [Predators general manager Barry Trotz], he wants serial winners, and Joey, for a young player, has embodied that to a certain degree," Nashville assistant general manager/director of player development Scott Nichol said. "The Memorial Cup and World Juniors, and that was such a great, just for his path ... he's been an everyday player for a long time, he hasn't had where he's been a healthy scratch, or the 13th forward, or playing five or six minutes, spotted in the roster and ended up getting two assists.

"Those are all really growth moments for him. Take aside him being a healthy scratch, whatever, but that's part of pro hockey and how he dealt with it, and whatever ice time he got, he put his stamp on it. He did everything he could. They just went on a little bit of a roll, and he wasn't in the lineup, but he didn't pout. He worked hard and he came back."

Willis' 21 goals are the most he's scored in his three OHL seasons, and part of that has come from shooting the puck more. He's averaging 3.44 shots on goal per game (124 shots), up from 2.50 he averaged last season (165 shots in 66 games).

"He was too predictable on passing the puck," Nichol said. "He's got a great shot. If you look where he's scored a majority of his goals, it's not on the outside, it's all on the interior, the blue paint. And that's where his mind goes, to get on the inside. ... The puck follows him around, and you might as well let it follow you around when you're in the interior rather than the outside.

"He's kind of balancing out his game. He's a dual threat on passing, setting guys up, but he also has a really good shot and has a good knack for scoring."

That includes a five-goal game Nov. 13, which kicked off a run of 13 goals during a five-game streak that included two more hat tricks. They were his first three-goal OHL games.

"It's just confidence, just belief in yourself," Willis said. "Anybody who's kind of taken a step, I feel like they just take a bigger belief in themselves. And I feel like that's what I did."

Willis said one of his goals for the rest of the season is to continue to bring a bit more speed to his game.

"Just playing with more pace," he said. "I feel like when I play faster, that's when my game is at my best. So, just constantly playing fast is what I'm going to try to do in the second half."

It's no secret that's just what the Predators are hoping to see.

"Don't put a lot of pressure on yourself, just be one of the teammates, but also be the go-to guy," Nichol said. "He has that history of scoring big goals, and he's going to play lots. But just keep dialing in your habits in. Because when he does dial in his habits, his little, tiny details of the wall-play, good stick detail in the [defensive] zone, all those things are going to translate into pro, and it's going to translate to him having more success offensively.

"He's going to keep driving. He's wired to keep improving and that's what you want in a young player. You want him to dominate the league, dominate the team, and carry it on over, and hopefully the sky's the limit for him."

OTHERS TO WATCH

Nick Lardis, RW, Brantford: A third-round pick (No. 67) by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft, Lardis extended his goal streak to 12 games when he scored twice in a 4-2 victory against Saginaw on Friday. The 19-year-old has 19 goals during his run, including four against Sudbury on Feb. 2. It's the longest streak in the OHL since Nick Robertson scored in 14 straight in 2019-20. Lardis leads the OHL with 51 goals and is second with 85 points in 49 games.

Rudy Guimond, G, Moncton: The Detroit Red Wings prospect debuted for Moncton on Dec. 8 after beginning the season with Cedar Rapids of the United States Hockey League. The 19-year-old is 7-0-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average, and .947 save percentage. He's allowed two goals or fewer in six of his seven games. Selected in the sixth round (No. 169) of the 2023 draft, Guimond is committed to play at Yale University next season.

Berkly Catton, C, Spokane: The Seattle Kraken prospect (No. 8, 2024 NHL Draft) had four goals and an assist in a 9-1 win at WHL Seattle on Friday to give him 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) during a 10-game point streak, including eight multipoint games. The 19-year-old has 76 points (27 goals, 49 assists) in 39 games.