He bet on himself — and hit.

“Just proud of myself for sticking with it,” he said.

This is an experience Wilsby called “once in a lifetime.” It has been mostly fun, a little bit of pressure.

That any of this has happened is a little bit of a surprise.

Wilsby does not come from a hockey family. As he put it, “not even athletes … grew up in a more academic family.” But there were some older cousins — kids he looked up to — and when he saw them play hockey, he decided he was all in as well.

It has worked out.

“He brings a lot,” said Predators forward Filip Forsberg, a fellow Swede. “He’s obviously a tremendous skater, plays really hard. He hurts you in practice, which is a good thing. Sometimes a little too much, so I’ve got to tell him to ease back a little bit.

“He plays the game extremely hard, competes on the pucks. His offensive game is starting to pick up more, too, which is what he was known for when he was back here, just flying around and creating stuff offensively. I think that game is only going to improve as he develops more too.”

Wilsby played 23 games with Nashville in 2024-25 (five points; one goal, four assists) before a season-ending shoulder surgery cut short his rookie season. It was his first major injury, something he called a learning experience, a torn labrum in his shoulder that he’d played through for about a year before it became apparent that he would need to get the repair.

He returned healthy to start this season but missed six games because of another injury, though he returned and played 15:59 in a 6-3 loss at the New York Rangers on Monday.

“I’m still trying to establish myself,” Wilsby said. “That’s even more hard work trying to establish yourself in this league. You always have new guys coming up, so you’ve got to make sure you work hard and keep your spot.”

That spot is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, a passion, one that started in the very city where Wilsby finds himself this week. He will have a chance to play his first NHL games in front of some of his family, including his older sister and older brother, something that he already knows will be a moment to remember.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “Obviously it’s going to be very exciting. It’s going to be similar to the first NHL-game feelings [I had] coming up. I’m just happy to share it with them.”