During last night’s Nashville Predators game Ryan Ellis was injured and did not return. With one right handed shot down topside it opens the door for the now influx of right handed shooting defensemen that the Milwaukee Admirals to help out at the NHL level. The man that the Predators have pegged for this assignment will be Stefan Elliott who tonight has been recalled under emergency conditions.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (March 30, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Wednesday that the club has recalled defenseman Stefan Elliott from Milwaukee (AHL) under emergency conditions. He will wear No. 7 for the club.

Elliott, 25 (1/30/91), has 24 points (8g-16a) in 82 career NHL contests with Colorado and Arizona since the 2011-12 season. Prior to being acquired by the Predators on Jan. 15, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound blueliner notched six points (2g-4a) in 19 games with the Coyotes, and since the trade, he has 17 points (6g-11a) in 29 AHL games with the Admirals. Colorado’s third selection, 49th overall (second round), in the 2009 Entry Draft was a 2015 AHL All-Star, the 2011 recipient of the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHL’s top defenseman and the 2009 CHL Scholastic Player of the Year while with the Saskatoon Blades.

The Nashville Predators can clinch a spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night when they face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at CONSOL Energy Center (6 p.m. on FOX Sports Tennessee; 102.5 The Game). Thursday’s broadcast will highlight the emerging partnership between the Nashville Predators and the YWCA in the quest to end domestic violence through the MEND initiative. The broadcast will shed light on some alarming statistics concerning domestic violence and introduce the platform of MEND, which is to make Nashville the safest city in the United States for women and girls.

Elliott was acquired by the Predators in what effectively became a three-team trade. Elliott was playing with the Arizona Coyotes at the time. The Coyotes received Victor Bartley who was then shipped along with John Scott, of 2016 NHL All-Star Game fame, to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Jarred Tinordi and Stefan Fournier.

Since joining the Predators organization Elliott’s existence has been in the AHL with the Admirals. Prior to the trade he had spent the entirety of his 2015-16 season playing with the Coyotes in the NHL where he played in 19 games and produced 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists). In his career he has logged 82 games of NHL experience having also played a part as a member of the Colorado Avalanche from 2011-15. In his NHL career he has 24 points (8 goals, 16 assists) and a plus/minus rating of -5 with 16 penalty minutes.

As a member of the Admirals, Elliott’s reintroduction to life in the AHL was actually a rather amusing one given the first two teams that he played against. Elliott’s first game as an Admiral came in San Antonio where he faced his old teammates that he played alongside the years prior when the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate was the Lake Erie Monsters before moving shop to the San Antonio Rampage organization. After that series the Admirals then played against the Monsters in Elliott’s old stomping grounds of Cleveland.

Elliott’s entry to the team, along with Patrick Mullen who was acquired a day prior to Elliott from the Ottawa Senators organization in exchange for Conor Allen, was a signal of a a restructuring of the defense to have three lefties and three righties. This balance is something the Admirals really haven’t experienced under the reign of Dean Evason as a head coach as Taylor Aronson has been one of the lone righties in the system from last season up until these two trades took place. Since, the team actually added another right handed defenseman in Corey Potter to make the right-handed defensemen split overwhelm the left-handed side. This has seen the likes of Elliott and Mullen actually sharing a defensive partnership in recent games with Elliott operating as the left-side defenseman.

Elliott has played in 29 games for the Admirals since his arrival in mid-January. He has 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) which includes scoring 5 power-play goals. His first goal that wasn’t scored on the power-play came last night when the Admirals beat the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-1. He has a plus/minus rating of +12 with the Admirals which is currently the best among all defensemen on the roster. He also has totaled 14 penalty minutes.

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