Most years, it seems the Predators are in the passenger seat of the sports car that is the first day of NHL free agency.  Big names would sign for big money elsewhere, little names would sign for big money elsewhere, and we’d be spending a night like tonight talking about depth moves for the organ-eye-zation.

In 2013, the Predators are in the drivers seat.  They’re only going 35 mph in a 35 mph zone, but at least they are in control.

The Predators signed five guys today.  None of them for more than 3.5 mil per year.  So there’s no albatross in the back seat of our car.  That’s a good thing.

Welcome:

Matt Cullen
Viktor Stalberg
Eric Nystrom
Matt Hendricks
Carter Hutton

Carter Hutton, eh?  THE Carter Hutton?  The one with the 13-4 record against Milwaukee over the last two years, and a .938 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average in those games?  One and the same.

So why did Hutton get the call to back-up Pekka Rinne?

He had a good interview, and the person he needed to impress the most was impressed.

The Goalie Guild caught up with Mitch Korn this afternoon, and posted these tweets:

#Preds Mitch Korn on C. Hutton: “He has battled for everything he’s ever gotten. He’s played in an AHL team that has produced goalies.” 1/3

— The Goalie Guild (@TheGoalieGuild) July 5, 2013

#Preds Korn on Hutton: “He handles the puck extremely well. He’s the right age [27]. He reminds me so much of when we took Dan Ellis…(2/3)

— The Goalie Guild (@TheGoalieGuild) July 5, 2013

#Preds Korn on Hutton: “…with one NHL game of experience. For all those reasons, we felt we’d go in that direction rather than recycle.”

— The Goalie Guild (@TheGoalieGuild) July 5, 2013

In Mitch we trust.

And to be honest, I kind of like the move.  For one thing, the Admirals won’t have to play against Hutton anymore, and it looks like the IceHogs are now looking for two new goalies this season.  But if it is determined that Magnus Hellberg is ready for prime time sometime in the middle of the season, they should be able to swap the two out pretty easily.  It’s a low-risk high-reward move, I think.  I figure he’s just buying time until Hellberg is ready anyway.  And that’s okay.

All the Nashville blogs have their takes on why these are great moves or why these moves are terrible.  But the one I’m going to link to I think does a nice job with the big picture.  So check outSam Page’s essay from On The Forecheck here.

You know who probably wasn’t impressed that much with the free agent frenzy?  Austin Watson.  Kevin Henderson.  Taylor Beck.  Four Nashville roster spots just went poof.  I’m counting 13 forwards signed right now, and it’ll be 14 if Nick Spaling accepts his qualifying offer.  Training camp should be interesting.

Former Admiral goalie Jeremy Smith follows the footsteps of the goalie he replaced, and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets organ-eye-zation.  Hopefully with a little less of the injury bug than Dexshow had.  Dexshow never played a minute for the Blue Jackets, and only five games for their AHL affiliate.  Mike McKenna, who was in Peoria last year, also signed today with Columbus.  Could be a decent tag-team in Springfield.  Good luck, Smitty.

UPDATE:  Defenseman Mike Moore signed with Boston.  So we’ll have a new captain this year.  Unless the Preds sign Scott Ford…in which case, we would probably get to use the ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’ line again.

Looking at Capgeek.com, it looks like the Preds did extend a qualifying offer to Daniel Bang.  He’s still listed as an RFA, while other players have been shifted to UFA status.  So we’ll see what his future holds.

So Roundtable — what do you think about the transactions today?  Think Hutton can hold down the fort until Magnus is ready?  Did the Preds do enough to address offense?

So the draft happened.  And much to the public dismay of some bloggers and web savvy fans, the Predators took defenseman Seth Jones with the 4th overall pick.  I get it…everyone wanted some offensive skill.  But it isn’t everyday that a team in the #4 slot is able to pick the guy they thought was the best player in the draft.  It has been interesting to watch the fans on twitter be disappointed, while many of the media outlets seem to want to classify the Predators as one of the winners of the draft.  But what’s done is done.  Now they have to sign him.

David Poile and Paul Fenton held court today at a press conference, and indicated that they think Jones will be breaking training camp with the Preds this year.  So as a Milwaukee fan, this will rouse up a chorus questioning the phrase that pays that plays for days….”The road to Nashville goes through Milwaukee.”  But a 4th overall pick?  He gets a special road. An HOV lane maybe.  Access to a bypass that gets him from Portland to Nashville without having to navigate around the Mars Cheese Castle and adult video stores in Kenosha, and the agonizing traffic in Chicago.  Yeah, we may not get to see him in Milwaukee.  But I don’t think we should have expected to.

The rest of the draft class?  Don’t expect them this year either right now.  Not since our old buddy Andreas Thuresson has a Predator been drafted, and then played in Milwaukee starting that year.  But the European players should be eligible, in case it is determined that their North American style education should begin immediately.  Canadian junior players?  Still a pesky age limit before they can play in the A.

But this page on the Predators website has a nice overview of the draft class, with commentary from some of the scouts that actually spent some time watching them.  (which is why I link to this page….instead of the Hockey’s Future site).  In short….they kind of flipped our world a bit…..large defensemen, short goalies.

Preds prospect camp will start next Tuesday….but the official roster hasn’t been announced yet.  You’ll want to keep an eye on the Nashville blogs for updates on how the new guys look, and how some of our guys have improved.  This will be their first close up with Magnus Hellberg after we’ve spent the last 6 months gushing about him….hope he lives up to the pretty pictures we painted…

Poile also talked about free agents at the press conference today.  Doesn’t sound like Jon Blum and Matt Halischuk were sent qualifying offers, so they’ll be unrestricted free agents on Friday.  I know some readers will be bummed and some will be throwing parades with that news about Blum.  Me?  I’m sorry it didn’t work out.

There were previous reports that Jeremy Smith wasn’t sent a qualifying offer either.  Tough to find info about whether or not Daniel Bang was sent one.  I’d hope so.  He got a nice audition with the Predators at the end of the season, and the critic’s reviews seemed fairly positive.  Haven’t seen anything official yet about the other RFA’s, Jack MacLellan, Ben Ryan, or Chet Pickard.

Mike Moore and Scott Ford remain unrestricted free agents at this time.

And free agent frenzy begins Friday.  I find twitter to be kind of annoying, but extraordinarily useful on days like Friday, to keep up to date on all the madness.  I’m also usually fond of the TSN free agent tracker.  So if you are off of work on Friday…kick back and enjoy watching.  Or catch the Milwaukee Admirals show at Summerfest at 4pm!  Maybe we’ll be able to share some news hot off the presses!

(Photo Credit:  Scott Paulus)

Amongst all the draft excitement yesterday, came this tweet from Josh Cooper of the Tennessean:

Poile said Chris Mueller and Brandon Yip won’t come back

— JoshuaCooper (@JoshuaCooper) July 1, 2013

Direct.  To the point.  Didn’t even need the full 140 characters.  Although it leaves open to speculation who ultimately is saying no.  They won’t come back.  Were they asked to, and declined?  Or were they not even asked?

So, as AHL fans, here we are again.  A mainstay of Admirals hockey for several seasons, now hitting the road.  Darren Haydar….Rich Peverley…and now Chris Mueller.  Maybe Mueller will be the next Peverley, and a change of scenery (or two changes) will do wonders.  Or maybe the open market will decide that Mueller has peaked as a guy that is a rock star in the American league, and may periodically get the call to a big club.  Or maybe Europe is next for Mueller?

Regardless of where he’ll be heading next, let’s take a moment and appreciate the good times over the last four years.  We don’t usually see that kind of consistency for such a long period of time at this level.  It’s been a great run here.  We’ve been lucky to have him on our team.

So we’ll wish Chris the best of luck….preferably in the NHL, or with some EASTERN conference AHL team….  We’d rather not have to play against him 12 times like we do against Haydar….

Poor poor neglected blog…

Okay, so what has happened over the last month?

Well, we have a date for the home opener!  October 19th!  It’s a Saturday.  I’ve also heard that we’ll be playing every team in our conference this year….so we’ll see the Rochester Americans for the first time since…since I don’t know….since Ryan Miller was their goaltender maybe?

– Kevin Henderson, Joe Piskula, and Victor Bartley have all been signed.  The first two on two-way contracts, and Bartley on a one-way deal.  That’s another feel good story for us here in the developmental leagues…  Another undrafted guy that developed right here in Milwaukee, and all of a sudden is getting second defensive pair minutes with he Predators.  I’d like to be the Nashville scout that saw him and convinced Poile/Fenton to take a chance on him.  That’s got to be extraordinarily rewarding.

Henderson and Piskula were unrestricted free agents, so it’s going to be nice to have them back in the fold again.  I would predict that Henderson splits time with Milwaukee and Nashville as needed, and Piskula will provide some good veteran leadership here in MKE.  He was a nice stay-at-home defenseman for us, and from a marketing standpoint…can we really have TOO MANY former Wisconsin Badgers on the team?  I don’t think so.

– The Predators signed a goalie from their 2012 draft class, and I’d say there’s a decent chance we’ll see him in Milwaukee this year.  Start learning how to pronounce “MAREK MAZANEC”.  It’s a two year entry level deal for the goalie from the Czech Republic.  Another tall one…6’4, and he catches with the right hand.  Another good project for Mitch Korn, as he plays his first North American minutes this year.

– Restricted free agents:  David Poile told Josh Cooper of the Tennessean that they sent a qualifying offer to Nick Spaling, but that they had not decided whether to do so for Matt Halischuk or Jon Blum.  Qualifying offers are due on July 2nd.  If they don’t sign those two or send qualifying offers, they’ll become unrestricted free agents.  We certainly have fond memories of Halischuk this year, as he was by far the best player on the ice when he was in Milwaukee for his conditioning assignment.  Why the delay in deciding?  Poile gave a nice quote to explain:  “Blum and Halischuk, at different times, have been really good for us, but I would probably like to make some changes.  That’s why I’m trying to keep the door open at least a little bit so I can see which other teams might have some interest so we can get something back.”

– In a trade that may have snuck under your radar, the Predators traded pending RFA forward Bobby Butler to Florida for pending RFA and defenseman TJ Brennan.  Brennan is a 6’1 left handed shot who split time last year between the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Sabres, and Florida Panthers.  The Sabres traded him to Florida for a 5th round draft pick in March.  Panther GM Dale Tallon said the following at the time:  “T.J. is a young and mobile defenseman with a hard shot, who we are pleased to have acquired.  He is a hard working player with an offensive upside, who has averaged almost a point-per-game in the American Hockey League this season.”

Brennan was selected 8 picks after Jon Blum in the 2007 NHL draft.  We’ll see over the next week if he gets an offer sheet…I’d imagine he’d have to…they traded for him, right?  And depending on the numbers in Nashville, he may be ticketed to Milwaukee.  We’ll see.

We know Juuso Puustinen will be playing in Finland this year.  And we know he’s a rap star too.

– Nashville has elected to continue its ECHL affiliation with the Cincinnati Cyclones.  Because you know what they always say….the road to Milwaukee goes through Cincinnati.

Annnnnnnnnnnd the NHL draft tomorrow.  Will any of these kids be old enough to play in Milwaukee next season?  We’ll see.  Keep an eye on the twitter and the Predators blogs for news.  Section 303 is on location for the draft, so look for some good coverage there.

– And finally….Do you follow Scott Ford on the twitter?  If you do, you may have seen this great photo.  It’s nice that former Milwaukee players like to come back here to visit.  His Yonkness, Calder Cup winning Triston Grant, and Fordo.  Drinking ginger ale, I imagine.  Right?

Ok, so we’ve had a few days for everything to set in.  The Admirals played well, but were beaten by a good team in the Texas Stars.  Since the league doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry, the next round of the playoffs hasn’t even started yet for any of the teams that advanced.  Hershey and Providence are finishing their series tonight.  It’s taking them 13 days to finish a best-of-5 series.  Seriously..with all this down time….make the first round a best-of-7 series.  Deal with the travel costs.

But looking back on the 2012-13 Admiral season, there were a lot of great things that happened.  So even though the season is over, I encourage you to remember the good times and look forward to the future times.

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed the most this year was watching the players improve their games.  Hellberg, Puustinen, Beck, Latta, Watson, Shalla, Bitetto, Henderson….the list goes on.  They all took giant steps forward in their game over the course of the season.  That’s a credit to both the players and the coaches.  The players for working hard, and the coaches for helping them get their game to a higher level.  That’s the way the system is supposed to work.  It didn’t always translate into wins early on, but towards the end?  Man, this was a fun group to watch.

The regular season finish was great.  The 10-2 record against the Wolves was a treat.  There were some memorable last minute comebacks along the way.  Chris Mueller dropped the gloves and knocked down his opponent.  Mike Liambas may be the best fighter we’ve had since Raitis Ivanans….just a half foot shorter.  I’ve gushed on the record about Magnus Hellberg…so I’ll keep it brief here….But I sure hope we get to see him one more year, and get to watch him become an even better goalie.  Pekka was here for three seasons.  I’d be delighted for a pair from Magnus.

Of course I’m bummed that the season is over.  But Texas played well, and they weren’t jerks.  I’m at peace with it.  I hope you are too.

At this point, I’d like to take a moment to send out some sincere thanks to you.  Thank you for reading the blog.  Whether it’s every day, every week, a couple of times a month, or if you just stumble onto it once in a blue moon…..whether you like to speak your mind, or lurk far away from the comments section….whether you agree or disagree with our opinions….whether you’re a local fan, a Preds fan, or a family member of a player….. thank you so much for reading.  Simply put, without you, there is no blog.  There’s no Furying The Fury without you.

On behalf of Trey, Jason, and myself….thanks for a great season on the Admirals Roundtable.

So the future of the blog?  We’ll continue to post when things of note happen during the off-season.  So do check in and say hi periodically.  And if you’re in to the twitter thing, follow @adsroundtable and @ryanadmirals .

Maybe I’ll even get around to giving the site the graphic design makeover it so desperately needs…we’ll see…

Talk to you soon,

-Ryan

So much for carrying momentum into game 3.  By the time Wednesday rolls around, Saturday will be ancient history.

With all these off-days, it makes me wonder why we can’t have a 7-game series in the first round…  It doesn’t appear to be due to a lack of time.

Looks like we get a Koharski of the Jamie variety on Wednesday, along with Graham Skilliter.  I know a lot of you don’t care much for Koharski, but I’ll take any Koharski over Shaun Davis any day of the week.

Here’s an open thread for you to discuss whatever you want heading into game 3….but here are some topic suggestions…

– Give us some line combinations you’d like to see. Are any lines from the stretch run untouchable?

– Now that the NHL talent is back for both teams, do you expect another defensive grudge match or some higher scoring games?

– If they go with six defensemen, who do you scratch?  And if Fordo is your answer, how much will they miss his leadership during the game?

– Ever been to Austin?

– Who is going to Goolsby’s on Wednesday for the viewing party?

He’s not here.

Officially, it was just announced that Filip Forsberg was recalled by the Predators today.

For their game Saturday.

While Daniel Bang and Kevin Henderson were sent down so they could play for us tonight.

Why wouldn’t Forsberg play too?

GREAT question.

(Photo credit:  Sanford Myers/Gannett Tennessee)

On the Admirals Center Ice Radio Show on Sportsradio 1250 WSSP, Paul Fenton told Aaron and Wojo on Monday that there may be “a couple of surprises sprinkled in” when answering a question about the playoff roster.

One of those surprises was sent down to Milwaukee today.

Along with Austin Watson, it was announced that Filip Forsberg has been assigned to the Admirals.  Joonas Rask was also called up to the Predators.

The jewel of the trade that sent Martin Erat and Michael Latta to Washington has played in four games with the Predators so far.  If he had played in six games, then Nashville would activate the first year of his entry level contract, which wasn’t a very likely prospect.

So we’re expecting to see him on the ice tomorrow night in Game 1 against the Texas Stars.  And that will be a treat.  Hopefully there won’t be any airport delays or things like that.

So Roundtable….who would you like Forsberg’s linemates to be if he makes it tomorrow night?

Yes, guys were called back up.  Yes, Austin Watson scored his first NHL goal.  Yes, Josh Shalla was sent to Cincy.  It’s all true.  It’s more action than we’re used to seeing the week after the season ends and before the playoffs begin.

Usually, this is where we throw in a fluff piece before previewing the upcoming series.  And this year will be no different.  It’s time for the 2012-13 Paper Plate Awards.  Where we take a moment to recall the good times, the bad times, and the odd times of the regular season.  We’ve got most of the players….a few were left out either due to small sample sizes, or lack of easy jokes to make about them.

Again this year, we’ve left a few of the awards up to you, so leave your nominations in the comments section for Liambas, Mueller, and Moore.

2 Anthony Bitetto – Man Of The Year Runner Up Award – Mark Van Guilder won it, but Bitetto had to be the runner up. He’s great with fans, great with the community, and he raised money for Hurricane Sandy relief for his home town. I think he might have had a better chance to win Man Of Year Award if he wasn’t a stinkin’ Yankee fan….

4 Scott Ford – PLEASE Get Me Out Of Peoria Award – The Rivermen scratched their captain because there were too many veterans on the roster. His first game back with the Admirals was on February 21st….it was only his second game since January 24th. He’s still got some gas in the tank, and is it just a coincidence that the Admirals went on this great late season run shortly after he arrived?

6 Ryan Ellis – Bear Market Award – I’ve been really sad to see the Nashville faithful turn on Ellis this year. They were so excited when he was first called up. Now they say he’s too small….a power play specialist…. I haven’t seen very many of the Preds games this season, but I’ve seen a lot of the Milwaukee games. Ellis has been very good down here. I think he’s still got a future on the blue line in Nashville.

7 Jon Blum – Reputation Preceeds Him Award – Tough crowd here at the Roundtable sometimes. I don’t think he deserved ALL of the scrutiny that readers threw his way early in the year. Some of it, sure, based on some plays. But I think when he was here early in the season, he had a bit of a bum rap, despite playing some decent hockey. We’re happy for his success.

8 Mike Liambas – Reader submission

10 Patrick Cehlin – Griffin & Checker Killer Award – Seven of his nine goals were against the Grand Rapids Griffins or the Charlotte Checkers.

11 Brad Winchester – Good Omen Award – The Admirals don’t lose in regulation when he scores a goal. 8-0-1-0 record this season. Memo to his linemates: feed him.

12 Mattias Ekholm – Most Improved Defender – At the start of the year, it was a little rough at times. But as the season has progressed, Ekholm became one of the most dependable defensemen on both ends of the ice. Great on the power play, and staying within the system in the defensive zone. And by the time he was called up to Nashville, he had definitely earned it. He’s got a bright future in the organization.

15 Kevin Henderson – Unsung Hero Award – He’s not flashy…he just works hard and delivers. Good for 17 goals, and he played on the shutdown line with Van Guilder and Latta for most of the year. Thrilled that he got a goal in his NHL debut. He was very quietly, one of the most essential pieces to Milwaukee’s success this year.

16 Ben Ryan – No seriously, take my number. Please. Award –  Ben Ryan was #16. And then he suffered a *cough* upper body injury *cough*. And he hasn’t played since. But his jersey has. #16 – Craig Smith, Paul Crowder. Just don’t tell Jon Blum that Ryan is sporting #7 on the AHL website these days.

17 Michael Latta – Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow Award – I could figuratively hear people’s hearts breaking when the news came down the pipeline that Latta was part of the deal that brought Filip Forsberg to Nashville. From his play to his personality (and his history of leaving the penalty box area without his jersey on), it’s easy to see why he was a fan favorite, and easy to see why he is so missed. His game took a big leap forward this year, and we wish him the best with the Caps.

17 Zach Hamill – The Gee, Thanks Florida Award – A former 8th overall draft pick of the Bruins, the Florida Panthers organization preferred to loan him to Milwaukee than give him minutes in San Antonio. But they didn’t seem to have a problem with Nolan Yonkman’s league worst -34 defensive rating. No matter. In 6 regular season games with us, Hamill had three goals and an assist. We’ll take it.

18 Chris Mueller – Reader submission

19 Gabriel Bourque – Most Likely To Lead The Predators In Goals – Didn’t see that coming. Good for him, but wow….even now that he’s missed a bunch of games at the end of the season, he’s STILL on top. Amazing. (edit:  Legwand scored tonight….but I’m not re-writing this!)

20 Daniel Bang – Most Likely To Have Intense Debates About How To Pronounce His Last Name Award –  Bang or Bong? Potato. Po-tot-o. Depends on who you ask, and what continent you’re on. If you ask Daniel, in North America, he says Bang. Not sure what there is to debate.

21 Mike Moore – Reader submission

22 Scott Valentine – Mr. Versatility Award – He played really well at forward when pressed into duty there, and scored some huge goals from the forward position down the stretch.

24 Jani Lajunen – The Invisible Man Award – It’s like he was never here.

25 Josh Shalla – Not In Kansas Anymore Award – 76 points in 53 games for Saginaw in the OHL last year. Points were a little tougher to come by in the AHL. He had a good line in Cincy — 21 goals in 37 games in pretty great, and we’re happy that he’s playing his best AHL hockey of the year lately too. Don’t know if we should expect those sick junior numbers next season, but I’m optimistic that he’ll continue to improve.

28 Jack MacLellan – Master Electrician Award – For his role in the Virtual Aspects promo. “Let them decide the system that’s right for you, and right within your budget!”

29 Mark Van Guilder – Keeps Getting Better Award – The counting stats keep going up every year, and he’s turned into a great leader for this team. The Admirals Man-of-the-year again. I hope that this off-season is the one where he gets that NHL deal.

30 Jeremy Smith – Dexshow Award – Seems like it was just two years ago that a freak injury ended the season of a goalie, and then the other guy assumed control of the wheel and took the team on a nice playoff run.

36 Joonas Jarvinen – Junk Yard Dog Award – Coach said he needed to play like a junk yard dog to be effective, and he turned into one of the most physical players on the team. But there’s still a fine line between playing physical and getting called for a lot of minor penalties. The penalty kill has been good late in the season, despite his frequent parades to the box.

37 Zoltan Hetenyi – Most Likely To Spend A Night In the Gwinnett County Jail Award – Yeah, that was a mistake.

41 Taylor Beck – Easier Than It Looks Award – The interweb seems to be gushing about Taylor Beck’s performance in the NHL after his callup. He amassed points in Milwaukee, but was subject to some inconsistent play. Maybe there’s just too much time to think in the AHL. Take away that, and Beck has the instincts and smarts to be successful up there. Good for him.

43 Cam Reid – The Little Things Award – A Nashville draft pick that never signed…and then ended up with the Admirals anyway. A PTO that turned into an SPC contract, Reid has played on different lines, in different situations, and has done a lot of the little things to earn the trust of the coaching staff.

45 Magnus Hellberg – Most Valuable Player – It’s been great watching Hellberg’s game evolve over the course of the year. In the beginning, he looked more like Chet Pickard than Pekka Rinne, letting in some softies. Then he lost six in a row from December 11th through January 20th, as the Admirals just couldn’t score in those games. And then something started to click. He won six in a row in February. He became the hot hand, and then when Jeremy Smith was injured in the game against Rockford March 29th, it was Hellberg’s show the rest of the way. He won 7 of his last 8 games, and capped the season with a pair of shutouts on consecutive nights. Magnus has sported a goals against average under two in each of the last three months. Lots of credit of course goes his defense…but more often than not down the stretch, when the Admirals needed a big save, they got it from Hellberg.  Another feather in the cap of Mitch and Ben.

47 Joe Piskula – Unsung Addition Award – McGrattan for Piskula? We won that trade. I’m sure he has made mistakes in the 23 games that he’s been here, but I don’t ever remember ever thinking, “Oh man, that goal is totally on Piskula.” A veteran stay-at-home defenseman that doesn’t make mistakes that end up in the back of our net? Priceless.

51 Austin Watson – Most Web Savvy Fan Club – Every year, someone’s fan club comes out in droves and makes their presence known. Last year, it was the Ryan Ellis fan club. This year, it was the Austin Watson fan club. With family and friends on twitter and commenting on various blogs around town, they were certainly well connected to how their boy was doing. Some of them were a bit rowdy at times…but we thank them for reading.

64 Victor Bartley – Most Likely To Go Viral – Say what you want about the Gangnam Style phenomenon….but the Victor Bartley video? It was pretty awesome. I almost made his award the best supporting actor award, because obviously, trainer Doug Agnew was the REAL star. AM I RIGHT?

71 Juuso Puustinen – Undisputed Swamp Soccer Champion – If you ever get the chance to talk to Juuso, ask him about his glory days playing swamp soccer. Great stories.

And that’s the end!  Thanks for reading.