“That Sets a Fire in You”: Cam Reid on Michigan’s Title Chase and Lessons From Josi and Suzuki
Cam Reid’s biggest year in hockey started with one of his toughest lessons.
Canada’s 2026 World Junior Championship run ended earlier than Reid wanted, sending him back to Kitchener with disappointment and plenty to think about. But he didn’t dwell on the past too long, as the Nashville Predators first-round pick captained the Rangers to an OHL championship and lifted the Memorial Cup.
After notching 15 goals and 56 points in 57 regular-season games for the Rangers, Reid also added two goals and 14 points in 18 games during the OHL Playoffs while holding down a crucial defensive role for his team.
Looking back, Reid feels he learned something from both experiences.
“The mental part of the game is pretty big,” Reid said. “You learn what winning takes.”
He will not have to wait long to put those lessons to use.
Reid is days away from leaving for Michigan, where one of college hockey’s most fascinating collections of young talent is coming together with a national championship in mind. Oh, and another crack at World Junior gold will also be waiting this winter, too.
And he has spent all summer prepping to hit the ground running.
His summer skates with current NHL players have offered invaluable insight into the necessary habits and skills he needed to develop, with a few surprises along the way.
With the end goal of eventually winding up in Nashville in the back of his mind, Reid knows this will be a big year for development.
“I know how big the challenges ahead of me are, and I’m so excited to just get started and see where my game can go,” added Reid.
Knowing What Winning Takes
The disappointment of the World Juniors in early January did not linger long before Reid was back in Kitchener with something else to play for.
The Rangers had championship ambitions of their own, and Reid was their captain. What followed gave him a chance to experience the other side of the high-stakes hockey he had encountered internationally.
Kitchener won the OHL championship and kept going.
The Memorial Cup was next, bringing Reid to a tournament that had occupied a place in his imagination long before playing in it became a realistic possibility.
“I’d been dreaming of playing in that tournament my whole life,” Reid said. “To actually get the opportunity to be there and win it was really special.”
For Reid, the significance went beyond getting his hands on another trophy.
A long playoff run showed him how much of championship hockey happens away from the plays that end up on highlight reels. There were games to grind through, momentum swings to manage and nights when the best contribution he could make was not necessarily the most noticeable one.
“I’m a player who uses my feet and my skating to get out of trouble,” Reid said. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to win. Block shots or score, I’m your guy.”
There is skill behind that confidence. Reid has spent the summer adding weight and continuing to work on the skating that forms the foundation of his game.
“I’ve added a bit of weight and worked a lot on my speed,” Reid said. “My feet are a big part of my game, and I want to keep building on that.”
There is also an understanding that not every night will ask the same thing of him.
One game might require Reid to create offense and move pucks. Another might require him to defend a lead, block a shot or simply make the safe play. Those are distinctions that become clearer when a season stretches into April or May and every mistake becomes more expensive.
For Reid, that is part of what the Kitchener run provided; the trophies are what everyone can see.
A Big Year Ahead at Michigan
Reid’s next classroom will look considerably different.
Michigan has become a regular destination for high-end young players on their way to professional hockey, and the program offered Reid a combination that made sense for where he is in his development.
“I think the schooling part is awesome,” Reid said. “It’s close to home, which is always nice, and my parents can come down to watch games. I really liked the plan they had for me and the history they have of developing players, especially young D like myself.”
There is also the matter of who will be waiting for him.
Michael Hage is returning to Ann Arbor, while Will Horcoff, Adam Valentini and Henry Mews are among the other Wolverines coming back for another season. Michigan will also add Landon DuPont, the highly touted defenseman projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Reid already knows a little about what his potential future defensive partner can do.
The two crossed paths at the Memorial Cup, giving Reid an up-close look at the player who will soon share a blue line with him rather than attack it.
“I remember playing against him for the first time at the Memorial Cup,” Reid said. “He opened everyone’s eyes. He’s a special talent and a special person.”
The view should be a little more enjoyable this time.
“To have him on your team and hopefully make an impact together is really cool,” Reid said. “We get to learn off each other, and I think only great things are coming for him in the future.”
For all the attention Michigan’s incoming talent will receive, Reid is equally intrigued by the players who decided not to leave.
Hage, Horcoff and Valentini were part of a Michigan group that experienced its own disappointment last season. Now they are coming back with another opportunity in front of them, giving Reid a chance to enter a dressing room where some of the motivation is already built in.
Hage’s decision, in particular, caught Reid’s attention.
“It shows the character he has and the person he is,” Reid said. “We’re going to Michigan and we want to develop, but we also want to win that natty. It’s a cool opportunity to have Hage coming back.”
That is the balance Reid is looking for in Ann Arbor.
Michigan is another step toward professional hockey, and Reid knows a significant part of the season will be about adding layers to his game. At the same time, he is joining a group that believes development does not have to come at the expense of competing for something.
“We have an opportunity to have a good year, but it’s the same mentality,” Reid said. “We want to win this, and we believe we have a team that can win it.”
For the players coming back, there is another element to it.They know what it feels like to leave a season wanting another chance.
“That sets a fire in you,” Reid said. “The guys who are returning are going to have it, and I think it’ll rub off on everybody.”
Reid does not have to look far to understand that feeling.
His own unfinished business could arrive in the middle of Michigan’s season, when another World Junior Championship offers the possibility of a second opportunity with Canada.
The previous tournament did not end the way Reid wanted. This time, he would enter it having experienced what happened afterward in Kitchener.
“That’s the best part for me personally,” Reid said. “We lost last year and we get another lick at it this year. Having a taste of winning gives you that hunger, and now you know what it takes.”
It gives Reid quite a bit to chase during his freshman season.
There is his own development, a Michigan team that wants to contend for a national championship and potentially another opportunity to represent Canada. Around him will be teammates at different points in the same process, some arriving with him and others returning because they believe there is still something to accomplish.
Soon enough, Reid will be part of it.
“I leave for Michigan in a couple of days,” Reid said. “I think it really starts to hit you once you get down there.”
Michigan is where Reid’s attention is headed now, but Nashville’s developmental staff, along with a few of its players, will be following closely as well.
Nashville Waiting Down the Road
The Predators entered Reid’s life before the championships in Kitchener.
Nashville selected him in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, and the relationship has continued as Reid has taken the now-popular development path through junior hockey and now the NCAA.
“I’m pretty fortunate to be drafted by Nashville,” Reid said. “They’ve been unreal in guiding me.”
His first few days as a Predators prospect were considerably less measured.
Draft day stretched into calls from Barry Trotz, followed by an attempt to process everything that had happened and somehow get some sleep.
“It was a really long draft,” Reid said. “I got a bunch of calls from people like Barry Trotz, and then I had to find a way to sleep. The next day, I was heading to Nashville on a private jet first thing in the morning.”
The flight produced one more surprise.
“Roman Josi FaceTimed us on the private jet and chatted with us,” Reid said.
For a teenage defenseman who had spent years watching Josi, suddenly talking with him required a slight adjustment.
“You kind of blank out because you’ve been looking up to these guys your whole life,” Reid said. “Then you’re actually talking to them and you’re just trying to take everything in.”
Once Reid got past the novelty of the conversation, there was an obvious reason to pay attention.
Josi has spent his career becoming the type of defenseman Reid hopes he can eventually develop into, capable of impacting the game with the puck while becoming much more than a one-dimensional offensive player.
“I kind of want to have a career like him and have an impactful career,” Reid said. “He’s always been a really nice guy to me.”
Reid isn’t trying to become Josi, but the example is hard to ignore when the organization that drafted him has one of the NHL’s premier defensemen wearing the captain’s C.
It also fits with how Reid thinks about his own potential.
“They know I’m a player who can play any role,” Reid said. “I can be a defensive guy or an offensive guy. My versatility is something I have a lot of confidence in.”
Summer School With the Pros
Reid does not have to go far during the summer to find NHL experience.
Established players like Corey Perry and Lawson Crouse are among the pros sharing the ice with him. Hunter Haight is part of the group, too, and Reid says the list could keep going.
Reid believes that learning from them does not always require asking questions.
“There are so many guys you can learn from. You just have to watch them and learn sometimes. I picked up a lot,” Reid said.
Perry is a particularly interesting player to study because there is no secret about how long he has been doing this. His ability to continue finding ways to be effective gives Reid a chance to watch the details that have helped sustain an NHL career.
“It’s crazy how he keeps it going, and you can tell why,” Reid said. “He uses his reach so well and all the little things from his positioning, stick placement, skating patterns. There’s layers there.”
Nick Suzuki has provided another kind of education.
The Montreal Canadiens captain is someone Reid has gotten to know through those summer skates, and watching him from ice level has given Reid a different appreciation for the way Suzuki processes the game.
“Nick Suzuki is unreal out there,” Reid said. “He’s in all areas of the ice. His hockey sense and his IQ are something I’ve never seen before.”
Trying to defend Suzuki provides another kind of education.
“You’ve got to keep him in front of you, because he’ll take advantage of anything you give him,” Reid said. “ Lucky for me that he’s been on my team most of the summer. He can beat you in so many way.”
On a couple of occasions, Reid got an even closer look at Suzuki, when the veteran centre decided to play defense and ended up as his partner..
“He can play any position so I wasn’t surprised to see him play on the backend,” Reid said. “The way he sees the eyes and scans plays before making a a decision is elite. He was out there cutting off passes, starting the rush and not giving the boys anything to work with. It was the best scenario for me to learn about anticipation and picking your spots. You can see why he won a Selke.”
For Reid, those skates offer a glimpse of the level he is trying to reach. He can watch the habits of players who have already made it, pick up whatever details he can, and take them with him to Michigan.
Now he gets to see how all of it translates.