Off-Season Presser: Who’s In, Who’s Out

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016Leave a comment

Image Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

While Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay duke it out and St. Louis and San Jose press on, here in Nashville our thoughts are focused on off-season changes. General Manager David Poile and Head Coach Peter Laviolette met with the media today to address trials and tribulations of the 2015-16 season, post season, and what should be expected from the organization through the off-season and into the next season.

Both Poile and Laviolette addressed the disappoint Game 7 loss against the San Jose Sharks, but praised the city of Nashville for the passion shown for the team throughout the playoff push:

"This is a hockey city and we have great fans." – David Poile. #Preds

— Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) May 18, 2016

"We're very disappointed. We had an opportunity to continue to play and move forward. We fell short of that." – Laviolette

— Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) May 18, 2016

While the disappointing loss still stings just a wee bit, most have moved onto more pressing matters such as the status of certain players. From the presser today, this is what we know:

Paul Gaustad will not be returning. A 34-year-old UFA, it was only a matter of time before Gaustad was replaced with a younger center.
Colton Sissons may be that replacement. Totted as Gaustad’s “heir apparent” in the conference today by David Poile, Sissons notched four goals and two assists this past season, which earned him some playoff time as well.
Eric Nystrom will either be bought out or traded. Yes, the Nystrom Show will have to find another host (and another name) next season. While in his first season he notched 21 points (15 of which were goals) in 2013-14, the past two seasons haven’t been as fruitful (just 19 points combined). Needless to say, Poile would like to attempt a trade with another organization, but will not hesitate to buy out the 36-year-old to free up space for someone younger.
Poile would like to keep Carter Hutton. Well yeah, me too, Poile (thanks for having me guys), but thinking from a hockey standpoint, it may be time to bring up either Marek Mazanec or Juuse Saros to possibly become – dare I say – Pekka’s replacement. It wouldn’t be the worst decision ever if Poile and Hutton’s agent can come to an agreement, but anything more than a year might be pushing it for the young guns lying in wait.
Contract negotiations: Calle Jarnkrok. David Poile mentioned that he hopes to begin contract negotiations with Jarnkrok “right away”. Jarnkrok, who was Nashville’s gain in a trade with Detroit for David Legwand, has proven his worth within the organization; perhaps it’s because he’s Swedish. Swedes are good. I mean, the kid missed one game in the regular season and totaled 30 points. Saying he’s worth having around is truly an understatement.
Contract negotiations: Filip Forsberg. Well, there’s no doubt somehow, someway, David Poile and Filip Forsberg will come to an agreement on a contract this off-season… and possibly a lengthy one at that.
Gabriel Bourque has an update. Yes, Gabriel Bourque. Injured back in November, Bourque has been working hard to get back into the lineup but a persistent UBI has kept him sidelined. Per Poile, Bourque has seen some improvement (noted that he could’ve hit the lineup if the Preds had made the Western Conference Finals) and hopes to find him a place with the team in the future.
Cody Bass will be re-signed. With Nystrom and Gaustad out of the future picture, Bass will be needed to fill that void on the fourth-line. Not exactly known for being a huge scorer, his presence is certainly felt both on and off the ice in positive aspects, so – as mentioned – he will be needed in the near future.
Ribeiro has some work to do. David Poile noted that Mike Ribeiro will need to have the “summer of his life” this off-season. I couldn’t agree more, Mr. Poile.

So, there you have it. Hopefully that was enough Predators information to last you for a little while until your cravings start to hit again. If you aren’t too familiar with the off-season, it stays rather busy. The 2016 NHL Draft will be held on June 24-25, which will bring plenty of buzz before and after the picks are in.

Bourque Assigned to Admirals

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016Leave a comment

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Image Source: Elsa/Getty Images

Have you been wondering where Gabriel Bourque was and when he’d return to the lineup? Well, we have your answer. Although he has been practicing with the team, forward Gabriel Bourque has been assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals on a long-term injury loan. Here’s part of the official presser from the Preds:

Nashville, Tenn. (February 17, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday that the club has assigned forward Gabriel Bourque to Milwaukee (AHL) on a Long-Term Injury Loan. Bourque is expected to suit up for the Admirals tonight when they travel east to play the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Bourque, 25 (9/23/90), has missed the Predators last 35 games after leaving the team’s Nov. 27 game at Philadelphia with an upper-body injury. In 22 NHL games in 2015-16, the Rimouski, Quebec, native has four points (1g-3a). Nashville’s ninth choice, 132nd overall (fifth round), in the 2009 Entry Draft, Bourque last played for the Admirals in 2012-13, registering 12 points (7g-5a) in 15 games from October-January. He has 64 points (27g-37a) in 118 career AHL games.

As you read above, Bourque will be suiting up with Admirals tonight against the Grand Rapid Griffins. Sending him down to the farm team will give him the preparation needed to return to a NHL lineup that simple practice just can’t secure. Gabriel Bourque – in my opinion – is one of Nashville’s more under-the-radar players who busts his butt but gets little recognition for it (at least, popularity-wise). Mattias Ekholm is another example, though he is finally getting some of the limelight he deserves.

The Predators are back in action tomorrow night against the 31-20-6 Boston Bruins and boy, do they need to start notching some points. Granted, there’s no doubt Nashville should’ve walked away with the two points on Monday night’s game against the Dallas Stars, but 3-on-3 overtime has certainly proven to be a devastating foe to the guys in gold.

Preds Thump Sharks 2-1

October 29, 2015Leave a comment

Image Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Did you make it through the entire game last night? I’ll be honest, I conked out at the end of the second period. A lot of you fought the strong hand of the Sandman and are now hooked up to your trusty caffeine IVs while you struggle through the workday. But alas, you have a smile on your face and deem it completely worth the lack of sleep because the Predators extended their record to 7-1-1 after defeating the 5-3-0 San Jose Sharks last night. Want some highlights? We’ve got your highlights:

First Period:

Eric Nystrom was on point from the very beginning, sending a gorgeous one-timer on net passed Martin Jones at 3:22 for an early 1-0 lead. Roman Josi (4) and Paul Gaustad (2) nabbed the assists on Nystrom’s third goal of the young season.

Nystrom opens the scoring in the Preds/Sharks game pic.twitter.com/iql1MkuDjk

— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 29, 2015
Barret Jackman picked up a roughing penalty against Tommy Wingels, but the Predators penalty kill did its job and ended the first period 1-0.

Second Period:

No goals were had by either team in the second, but Joe Thornton and Shea Weber did get called for Unsportsmanlike conduct when Weber cross-checked Thornton after he checked Roman Josi.

Weber gives Thornton a shove after Thornton put a good check on Josi: pic.twitter.com/kCTjEJdntx

— Mark Harris (@MCHisTweeting) October 29, 2015

Third Period:

Just 1:28 into the third, San Jose finally slipped one passed Rinne with Joe Pavelski collecting his fourth goal of the season.
Calle Jarn-CROAK, on the other hand, wasn’t having a tied game for long, picking up his first goal of the season at 8:52. Gabriel Bourque (1) and Seth Jones (5) assisted on Jarnkrok’s wicked wrister.

Jarnkrok gives Nashville a 2-1 lead pic.twitter.com/tyWIPRu5EO

— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 29, 2015
The boys in ~~gold~~ white would hold off the Sharks until the end though, with Nashville out-shooting San Jose 24 to 21.

Random Musings:

For those Wilson lovers out there, Colin took a puck to the head during the first period. No need to panic, he is okay. I just really wanted to post this gif:

have you been grossed out yet today? let me help you out pic.twitter.com/VjV1gdnzQQ

— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 29, 2015
The Predators are the only team in the NHL without a first-period goal against. They extend a franchise record to start the season.

— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) October 29, 2015
Laviolette coaching his 850th NHL game tonight. That’s quite a lot. Four different teams (NYI, CAR, PHI, NSH)

— Kristopher Martel (@kmartel_sports) October 29, 2015
Wondering why I said “Jarn-CROAK” earlier? The announcers had a bit of a difficult time pronouncing it during the first period. Glad they got it corrected before he scored the game winning goal.

Announcer is calling him Yarn-croak now. I think I helped. pic.twitter.com/kc1NQVV720

— Admirals Roundtable (@adsroundtable) October 29, 2015
It's a good sign that a team is winning games even when their best faceoff man (Gaustad) is 5 of 17 and team is 30%. Because, damn.

— Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) October 29, 2015

That last tweet by Mr. Bradford needs to be further addressed. The Sharks won 80% of the face-offs in the first period alone. There were 53 face-offs total last night, with San Jose winning 37 and Nashville only winning 16. Eek. Time to panic? No, because as great as they are to win, they don’t necessarily define how the outcome of the game. Nashville is not chasing the puck when they lose (for the most part), which keeps them on the plus side of possessions. Though it is certainly something to work on, it is not a dire situation like other aspect could be (penalty kill, power play, etc.). So, in a nutshell, don’t freak out over win/loss numbers within the faceoff just yet.

Nashville continues down the West Coast with a stop in Los Angeles on Saturday for a special Halloween puck drop of 3PM.

Preds Release Opening Night Roster

October 7, 2015Leave a comment

opening night

Yesterday afternoon, the Predators released the finalized 23-man roster for the 2015-16 NHL season. Without further ado, here are your Nashville Predators:

FORWARDS

Smith

Forsberg

Arvidsson

Bourque

Fisher

Gaustad

Hodgson

Neal

Nystrom

Wilson

Ribeiro

watson

51(1)

DEFENSE

Bartley

Bitetto

Ekholm

Ellis

Weber

Josi

Jackman

Jones

GOALIES

Rinne

Hutton

So, are you surprised by who made the roster? We certainly are happy to see that Austin Watson made the cut, as that kid has been working something hard in the AHL. The same can be said for Viktor Arvidsson, who is definitely ready for his light to shine this season.

The 2015-16 NHL season opens tonight with the Maple Leafs vs. the Canadiens, the Blackhawks vs. Rangers, the Flames vs. the Canucks, and the Kings vs. the Sharks. However, Nashville opens the season tomorrow at home against the Carolina Hurricanes.

It's Wednesday, October 7th. The NHL is officially back in action today. pic.twitter.com/KEhnwyh92j

— Justin Bradford (@justinbbradford) October 7, 2015

Three Notable Names on Preds Roster Cut

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015Leave a comment

Image Source: Google Images

What’s up, everybody? Yes, it is still preseason for me, too; I am working on getting back into the flow of posting after a long off-season hiatus. So what’s been going on: Well, the Predators are down to their final preseason game, which comes up this Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Then? Well, then the real fun begins. But before the season can officially kick-off, the Predators need to reduce the roster and, after Kevin Fiala was sent down to Milwaukee, it was interesting to see who else would be joining him.

Well, it looks like Colton Sissons, Steve Moses, and Juuse Saros will be joining Fiala for the time being. Moses comes as the biggest surprise from this latest cut, as 9 out of the 12 of us joining in on the On the Forecheck “Ask the Staff” post agreed that he’d be the one with the most ice time out of him, Gabriel Bourque, Eric Nystrom, Austin Watson, and Kevin Fiala.

Of course, as the organization explained in the reasoning behind Fiala being cut, I believe Moses will have more of an opportunity to develop while with the Admirals and will have more of a leadership role, which will make him prime pickings for filling in a roster spot in Nashville. Or, as Laviolette put it so sweetly:

Laviolette also believes Steve Moses is still a player who can contribute and help the #Preds in due time.

— Brooks Bratten (@brooksbratten) September 30, 2015

The Predators roster is now set at 25 – fifteen forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders. You can see the current roster here.

Preds sign Calle Jarnkrok

July 17, 2015Leave a comment

Image Source: Kristen Jerkins Photography

There’s a good chance the young 23-year-old Swede is smiling from ear to ear today as Calle Jarnkrok and the Predators organization come to terms on a one-year deal worth $735,000. Here’s a little excerpt from the official press release:

Jarnkrok, 23 (9/25/91), has amassed 27 points (9g-18a) in 86 career NHL contests since making his debut with the Predators on March 21, 2014 vs. Calgary. During his first full NHL season in 2014-15, the Gavle, Sweden native suited up for 74 regular-season games (7g-11a-18pts) and all six playoff games (2a), recording assists in each of his first two career Stanley Cup Playoff games. In his first two months upon being acquired from Detroit on March 5, 2014, Jarnkrok posted nine points (2g-7a) in his first 12 NHL games, including five points (1g-4a) in the first five contests of his NHL career, the second-longest point streak by a Predators player in the first games of their NHL career (Marek Zidlicky, six games, Oct. 9-23, 2003).

Perhaps I made I good choice in purchasing his practice jersey at the Used Equipment Sale after all.

…And then there were two (RFAs) left…

Colin Wilson – July 28th
Craig Smith – July 20th
~~Gabriel Bourque~~ – 1 Year, $866,250 (Qualifying Offer) – 7/2/2015
~~Anthony Bitetto~~ – 1 Year, $665,000(NHL)/$60,000(AHL) – 7/13/2015
~~Calle Jarnkrok~~ – 1 Year, $735,000
~~Taylor Beck~~ – Traded to Toronto for Jamie Devane – 7/12/2015
~~Taylor Aronson~~ – 1 Year, $605,000(NHL)/$65,000(AHL) – 7/16/2015
~~Magnus Hellberg~~ – Traded to NY Rangers for 6th Rounder 2016 Draft – 7/1/2015

Yeah, we’re looking at you, Colin Wilson and Craig Smith.

Bourque accepts Preds’ Qualifying Offer

July 2, 2015July 2, 2015Leave a comment

6e80cfe6-bdb6-4927-bf17-3c1a8e4cf7b5_ORIGINAL

You like Bourque? We like Bourque. Well, he likes Nashville too, it seems because he has accepted his qualifying offer extended to him by the Predators. What’s that offer? A one-year, $866,250 deal, to be exact.

Gabriel Bourque was 3-10-13 last season, a wee bit off from his 9-17-26 record from the 2013-14 season. But hey, everyone is entitled to a few off seasons, right?

Bourque is just the first of eight RFAs that the Predators extended qualifying offers to on Monday to accept. That list includes the likes of Colin Wilson, Craig Smith, Calle Jarnkrok, Taylor Beck, Anthony Bitetto, and Taylor Aronson. Magnus Hellberg, the eighth RFA, was traded yesterday afternoon to the New York Rangers in return for a sixth-rounder in the 2016 Draft.

Qualifying Offers extended to 8 RFAs

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015Leave a comment

PicMonkey Collage

Fear not, Preds fans! The Predators extended qualifying offers to eight Restricted Free Agents all before the 4PM deadline this afternoon. Those eight players? Colin Wilson, Craig Smith, Gabriel Bourque, Anthony Bitetto, Calle Jarnkrok, Taylor Beck, Taylor Aronson, and Magnus Hellberg.

In a nutshell, by extending these qualifying offers, the Predators are still given the opportunity to continue negotiations with these particular players. This doesn’t stop these players from signing other contracts, but it does give Nashville the right to match or exceed these potential competitive offers. If the Predators do not choose to match or exceed an offer, they will be compensated for the player’s departure from the organization. If the Predators had not given these RFAs qualifying offers, these players would’ve become Unrestricted Free Agents on Wednesday, July 1st.

So, who didn’t receive qualifying offers? Well, that would be Zach Budish and Josh Shalla; two players that will hit the UFA market come July 1st.

Fans brave Ice & Preds Win 5-1

February 17, 2015Leave a comment

Source: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

How’s everyone doing during the #ICESTORM2015? What was supposed to be ideal, beautiful snow turned into hazardous, just-plain-evil ice across the entire state. In fact, it has been so bad, Tennessee officials declared a State of Emergency. Needless to say, the attendance for tonight’s game against the 29-21-8 San Jose Sharks wasn’t expected to be a sellout. However, the fear of being stranded somewhere along one of the deserted interstates tonight didn’t stop the Loyal Legion from turning out.

NOTEWORTHY (PRE-GAME):

As mentioned in the previous post, Anthony Bitetto was recalled last minute by Nashville to fill a void in the defense (Anton Volchenkov was placed on IR).
However, where Bitetto made the flight to Nashville, his equipment bad did not. This left Nashville with a ton more forwards than defensemen.
Nashville’s solution? During warmups, Viktor Stalberg – who just cleared waivers not even 24-hours ago – was paired on the defense with Seth Jones…
Just before puck drop, Viktor Stalberg was declared the healthy scratch and Anthony Bitetto was given the green light.
But… the team was down to just five d-men for a few minutes, as Bitetto’s bag arrived a little after game start.
Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli did not make their return tonight due to issues with their work visas. So… they don’t already have those?

SCRATCHES:

Viktor Stalberg, Cody Franson, and Mike Santorelli

FIRST PERIOD:

San Jose’s Matt Irwin (5) drew the first blood at 5:26, sending a wrister past Pekka Rinne.
Shea Weber quickly tied it up at 13:42 with his signature slapshot, his 14th goal of the season. Mike Fisher (15) picked up the assist.
Craig Smith took a chunk of Alex Stalock at 16:02, collecting his 17th goal of the season with a wrister. Mattias Ekholm (9) and Mike Ribeiro (36) tally the assists.
Preds end the first period up 2-1 on the Sharks, though San Jose out-shoots Nashville 17 to 15.

SECOND PERIOD:

Just 52 seconds into the period, Craig Smith notched his second goal of the season (18) on the powerplay. Colin Wilson (20) and Seth Jones (15) punch the assists.
Paul Gaustad wanted a piece of the pie and got his at 1:43, his second goal of the season. Gabriel Bourque (6) and Shea Weber (28) pick up the assists on Gaustad’s wrister.
James Neal would finish off the second period with his 20th goal of the season at 10:31. Mike Ribeiro (37) collects the lone assist.
San Jose out-shot Nashville 15 to 13.

THIRD PERIOD:

No goals in the third.
San Jose out-shot Nashville in each period, this time 11 to 9.

NOTEWORTHY (POST GAME):

Pekka Rinne is a beast indeed (not that you needed any convincing). You know he’s doing big things when NHL takes notice:

FYI Pekka Rinne is out of control right now.

— NHL (@NHL) February 18, 2015
James Neal is the first on the roster to reach 20 goals and he now has 7-straight 20-goal seasons.
Both Shea Weber and Mike Fisher are now on three-game point streaks.
Another reminder of how great Rinne is:
Pekka stopped 42 of 43 shots-on-goal tonight. Tell me he isn’t Vezina worthy.
The Predators now hold a six-point lead over the entire NHL.

With this win, the Predators are just seven wins away from clinching a playoff spot (and it isn’t even March yet) and are now 39-12-6. Wowza. The Preds take off for a three-game road trip to the East, starting with the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Ribeiro’s 3rd Period Goal secures Preds Win 3-2

February 8, 2015February 8, 2015Leave a comment

Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

After losing the Western Conference lead to the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night, the Predators needed the boost from regulation win against the New York Rangers to regain some momentum Saturday afternoon. The Rangers, who were 30-15-4 coming into yesterday’s bout, were riding confidently on a three game winning streak & hoping to extend that to four. Without King Henrik in the net, could the Rangers pull off the win? Or would Pekka Rinne’s return hold off the Blueshirts?

SCRATCHES: Olli Jokinen