In the spring of 2014 Calle Jarnkrok enjoyed a brief stay in Milwaukee. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Nashville Predators signed another Milwaukee Admirals alum long-term as today the team announced a new six-year contract for forward Calle Järnkrok.
Nashville, Tenn. (July 26, 2016) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Tuesday that the club has signed forward Calle Jarnkrok to a six-year, $12 million contract. The contract will pay him $1.7 million in 2016-17, $1.8 million in 2017-18, $2.1 million in 2018-19, $2.2 million in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and $2 million in 2021-22.
Jarnkrok, 24 (9/25/91), appeared in all but one of Nashville’s 2015-16 regular-season games, more than doubling his previous career high in goals (16), as well as setting personal bests in assists (14) and points (30). The Gavle, Sweden, native also ranked second on the Preds in game-winning goals (4) a season ago, and saw his year-over-year average ice time increase by 3:17. In 167 career NHL contests since joining the Predators via trade on March 5, 2014, Jarnkrok has amassed 57 points (25g-32a) and played in all 20 of the team’s postseason contests, recording three assists.
Detroit’s second choice, 51st overall (second round), in the 2010 Entry Draft, Jarnkrok has represented Sweden in five international competitions in the last eight years, winning a gold medal at the 2013 World Championship and earning a bronze at the 2014 World Championship. Prior to making the jump to North America for the 2012-13 season, the 6-foot-1, 186-pound forward helped Brynas win the 2012 Le Mat Trophy as Swedish league champions on a team that also included Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm, and was a finalist for the 2011 Swedish league rookie of the year (won by Ekholm).
The 24-year-old came into his own in the NHL last season, scoring 16 goals and 30 points, and then added an assist in 14 playoff contests. It was Järnkrok’s second full season with Nashville after joining the franchise in the spring of 2014.
After being acquired in the trade that sent David Legwand briefly to Detroit, the Gavle, Sweden native dressed in six games for Milwaukee, scoring nine points including five goals. He had a goal and an assist in the Admirals’ three playoff games.
The trade another of the brilliant variety by Predators General Manager David Poile. In addition to the budding Järnkrok, Nashville also added a conditional second-round pick (Jack Dougherty). Legwand, Nashville’s first ever draft pick, played in just 26 total games for the Red Wings, making a limited impact on a team that barely squeezed into the playoffs. He then moved on to Ottawa later that summer and last year played in Buffalo.
So Roundtable, what do you think of Calle Järnkrok’s new six-year deal? Will the young Swede continue to develop making this contact a nice bargin, or will the tail end of it fizzle like Viktor Stålberg two years ago?
Perhaps #5 will make a return to Milwaukee for the 2016-17 Milwaukee Admirals season. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Nashville Predators have reportedly avoided salary arbitration with Petter Granberg by agreeing to a two-year contract this afternoon. The terms of the deal via Tim Wharnsby state that it is a two-way contract for at least the first year of the deal which will be worth $575,000 (NHL) and $175,000 (AHL) with $300,000 guaranteed for the 2016-17 season which then kicks up to $650,000 (NHL) for the 2017-18 season.
Granberg’s 2015-16 season was an eventful one considering all the unexpectedness that came with it for him. He was hampered by injury prior to the start of the season which is likely why the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to see if he could reach the AHL to start the season before migrating back topside. That never happened as the Predators managed to claim him off of waivers, send him on a conditioning assignment to the Milwaukee Admirals to provide him his first game-action of the season, and then bring him up for the rest of the season.
Considering Granberg’s NHL experience this time last year was 8 games I feel last year was a slight shock to the system given his situation. He probably should have been in the AHL to start the season just to get his legs properly back under him but couldn’t due to the waiver wire process needed to get there. His role soon became being an alternate, or healthy scratch, with the Predators defense. He played 27 games last season for the Predators, so his wealth of NHL experience has certainly grown, but I would argue that Granberg was never playing at his full potential given all that last season threw at him.
I don’t anticipate Granberg will be with the Predators at the start of the 2016-17 season but fans in Nashville shouldn’t take that as a knock against Granberg at all. If he does make the team out of camp? That’s fantastic. It really is. But, given the Predators depth up top, Granberg isn’t exactly going to be bumping anyone of that defensive six-man lineup out for playing time. Does he get ice time over Yannick Weber? I don’t know about that.
Should the Predators need that flex-defenseman that is busy cultivating cobwebs while wearing a suit and watching from afar? Granberg has experience doing that from last season and can fill that role if needed. That role likely gets filled by either Granberg or possibly Stefan Elliott once he gets a deal hammered out with the organization. Between those two Elliott is the type of defenseman more suited to the way the Predators play and also has more NHL experience. The seventh line of defense in Nashville should come down to those two with the odd-man out heading to Milwaukee.
Where this deal works best for me is in that last paragraph. You have depth. You have competition for ice-time. And it creates a situation where Nashville and Milwaukee are going to benefit. What will be great for Granberg is that he is now heading into a season and situation fully fit and aware of what he’s getting himself into. If he earns his place in Nashville? He stays his course from a season ago. If he ends up in Milwaukee? He gets to build himself back up while being the top option for a recall in the event of an injury. Granberg isn’t the prototypical Predators style “join the rush” defenseman. He’s more of a stay at home defenseman but was tasked with learning the Predators system a season ago on the fly and at an NHL level – which he barely played at previously. He’s had roughly a year to digest it. He’s healthy. He’s capable of bouncing between the NHL/AHL now this season. This should be a year to really see just what sort of defenseman the Predators really picked up off of waivers a season ago.
The new home of the Montreal Canadiens’ American Hockey League affiliate for 2017-18 will be Laval, Quebec’s Place Bell. (Photo via allhabs.net)
It seems the American Hockey League’s musical chairs of franchise realignment was not quite done for the summer of 2016.
In the end the city without a chair is not Springfield, Massachusetts, but once again St. John’s, Newfoundland, as the Montreal Canadiens announced that they are moving their AHL affiliate to Laval (suburban Montreal) for the 2017-18 season.
Therefore, the residents of Canada’s most eastern province will have one more season of AHL hockey before the IceCaps relocate to the Canadiens’ backyard in the new Place Bell in Laval.
For now no team is expected to replace the IceCaps in St. John’s, which housed Winnipeg’s top affiliate from 2011-15 and Montreal’s from 2015-18. Despite strong attendance and success on the ice St. John’s is another prime example of a city left behind by the AHL because it is located too far away from its parent NHL club.
This is the second time that St. John’s is losing its AHL franchise altogether. Prior to the 2004-05 season Toronto’s AHL affiliate franchise, the St. John’s Maple Leafs, relocated to the Ricoh Coliseum in the Queen City. That team began play in Newfoundland in 1991-92.
No additional realignment is to be expected with this move as Laval would be an even better geographic fit in the league’s North Division along with foes Toronto, Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Binghamton.
Are you surprised by Montreal’s decision to relocate its top affiliate to Laval? Are you surprised it is moving to Laval and not Quebec City? Does the future foresee another AHL franchise in St. John’s?
Following the AHL’s Christmas break in the 2016-17 season the Milwaukee Admirals will start wearing their navy uniforms as the standard home uniform. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
A new season looms in the American Hockey League (AHL) and another new alignment and set of rule changes have been implemented. The AHL’s Board of Governors have approved a new alignment for the league in the 2016-17 season as well as a change to numerous rules and even some twists to the way the game will look after Christmas.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League’s Board of Governors has concluded its 2016 Annual Meeting, held this week at Hilton Head Island, S.C.
Chaired by AHL President and CEO David Andrews, the four days of meetings, which concluded today, included presentations from National Hockey League Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, USA Hockey and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.
The Board has approved the following items to be implemented beginning in 2016-17:
Division Alignment
Playing Schedule/Standings
• The 2016-17 regular season will consist of 1,116 games, played between Oct. 12 and Apr. 16. All teams will play 76 games each with the exception Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose, Stockton and Tucson, who will play 68 games each. The full league schedule will be announced later this summer.
• Teams will receive two points for a win and one point for an overtime or shootout loss. The top four teams in each division ranked by points percentage (points earned divided by points available) will qualify for the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs.
• The 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs will feature a divisional playoff format, leading to conference finals and ultimately the Calder Cup Finals. The division semifinals are best-of-five series; all subsequent rounds are best-of-seven.
• Teams will wear light jerseys at home until the Christmas break, and dark jerseys at home after the Christmas break.
Rule 46 (“Fighting”)/Rule 23 (“Game Misconducts”)
• Players who enter into a fight prior to, at, or immediately following the drop of the puck for a faceoff will be assessed an automatic game misconduct in addition to other penalties assessed.
• During the regular season, any player who incurs his 10th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for one (1) game. For each subsequent fighting major up to 13, the player shall also be suspended automatically for one (1) game.
• During the regular season, any player who incurs his 14th fighting major shall be suspended automatically for two (2) games. For each subsequent fighting major, the player shall also be suspended automatically for two (2) games.
• In any instance where the opposing player was assessed an instigator penalty, the fighting major shall not count towards the player’s total for this rule.
Rule 82 (“Icing”)
• In addition to not being permitted to make player substitutions, the offending team on an icing violation also may not use its team time-out.
Rule 1.10 (“Ice Cleaning”)
• The ice cleaning procedures used during promotional timeouts will also be used prior to overtime during the regular season, replacing the “dry scrape.”
In operation since 1936, the AHL continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers. In 2015-16, over 7.1 million fans attended AHL regular-season and playoff games across North America, the highest total attendance in league history.
There is a lot to take in here but the initial things to take stock of… (1) Points Percentage remains all teams in the Pacific Division outside of the state of Texas will play a 68-game schedule rather than the traditional 76-game schedule… (2) The Central Division hasn’t changed what-so-ever and that includes the Charlotte Checkers remaining not only in the Central Division but the Western Conference… (3) Playoffs will be run and conducted exactly as they were this past season… (4) After the AHL’s Christmas break teams league-wide will switch from wearing white as their home uniforms and begin wearing their darker uniforms as the standard home set…
Really, things aren’t going to be all that drastically different than the 2015-16 season. As far as rule changes go in regards to fighting, icing, and dry-scrape? They are all really being done to keep the pace of the game fast. I feel the “staged” fighting off the face-off being met with a game-misconduct is a good call. Eliminating a team from calling a timeout after an icing, paired with the lack of a substitution, makes taking that icing that much more of a punishment. And the dry-scrape? I’ve always loved saying it – but they’ve made a simple fix of it that means getting overtime off and running far faster.
All things told there aren’t many things here that are seen as drastic changes. If anything it feels like some small streamlining efforts. The one thing I find comical is the uniform change midway through the season. I don’t know why, if there has to be a change, it can’t just be done instantly. Some purists probably still feel the NHL should have teams wearing white uniforms at home and now that is being scrapped mid-season in the AHL. If you’re trying to act like big brother and wear dark at home? Just make that the norm from opening puck drop. Seems funny to have a mid-season, “Oh, and by the way, don’t forget you need to switch home and road uniforms now.” For all the streamlining it just amuses me that they left a gaping wrinkle like that in.
Thoughts on the AHL’s new alignment and rule changes for the 2016-17 season? Are you happy to see fighting being clamped down more in the sport? Any disappointment that the Pacific Division, despite gaining a newcomer out West, still aren’t playing a full 76-game schedule?
The Nashville Predators have reportedly signed forward Mike Liambas to a one-year, two-way contract worth $575,000 (NHL) and $75,000 (AHL) with $100,000 guaranteed. Liambas played with the Milwaukee Admirals from the 2012-13 season up until the 2014-15 season before he joined the Chicago Blackhawks on a two-way contract that had him playing with the Rockford IceHogs. That was his first career NHL contract. This becomes his second as well as his second rodeo within the organization.
Liambas has played 141 career games as a member of the Admirals and has amassed 17 points (9 goals, 8 assists) with a grand total of 499 penalty minutes. Last season with the IceHogs he only logged 44 games, missing time due to injury, and produced 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) with 188 penalty minutes to his name.
Once made official the Predators will have signed four players in free agency that should directly impact the Admirals 2016-17 roster with Matt Irwin, Harry Zolnierczyk, and Trevor Smith complementing this news surrounding Liambas. What this all provides is actually simple to figure out. Look at the current age of all of these players: Irwin (28), Zolnierczyk (28), Smith (31), and Liambas (27). The Admirals entered last season as the second youngest team in the entire AHL. Adding not only depth but experienced depth could go a long way in making the 2016-17 season a success where the 2015-16 season came up a little short.
Liambas signing does make one particular re-signing look a little less likely all of the sudden and that would be fellow left winger Jamie Devane. The roster is already filling out pretty nicely and there can only be so many thrash-and-bash types of players you can tack on before it becomes a problem. Remember the 2014-15 season when the Admirals had not only Liambas but Triston Grant and Rich Clune? It was like having a cloning factory.
While arguements can easily be made for still re-signing Devane it gets tricky once you look at how the Admirals roster already lays out with returning prospects that will play on the wing (Pontus Åberg and Max Görtz), new prospects that will play on the wing (Justin Kirkland and Anthony Richard), or returning veteran talent that will also play wing (Adam Payerl or Matt White). Devane had a really solid 2015-16 season scoring 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 62 games with a plus/minus rating of -7 and 82 penalty minutes. In spurts last season Devane wore an “A” on the front of his uniform because of what he means to the locker room on and off the ice. Liambas provides similar leadership qualities and is beloved by the coaching staff here in Milwaukee. It’s not likely that Devane will return to Milwaukee now that what really was his place has been claimed.
The Nashville Predators selected defenseman Dante Fabbro with their first selection of eight in the 2016 NHL Draft. Who hits the pro ranks first and hits it the hardest? (Photo Credit: Sarah Fuqua)
When you really look at everyone that the Nashville Predators drafted at this year’s NHL Draft you might question just what’s going on. There were five defensemen selected by the Predators out of a possible eight draft picks. There were two European players selected, a Swedish defenseman and Russian goaltender, who have yet to play a game of senior level hockey. There were three players drafted that are joining college programs for the first time in the Fall and one that just completed his first season in college. In fact, there aren’t really any names that leap out as players that will have an immediate impact on the organization.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Fuqua)
Dante Fabbro (1st Round, 17th Overall) will be heading to Boston University for the 2016-17 season. Samuel Girard (2nd Round, 47th Overall) has only played two seasons of junior hockey with the Shawinigan Cataractes and should be returning for the 2016-17 season. Rem Pitlick (3rd Round, 76th Overall) will be joining the University of Minnesota for the 2016-17 season. Frédéric Allard (3rd Round, 78th Overall) has logged three full-seasons with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and could likely play out his fourth for the 2016-17 season. Hardy Häman Aktell (4th Round, 108th Overall) is such a ghost that the only known photograph I can find of him is his Skellefteå AIK headshot which no longer appears on his player profile page on the team website. Patrick Harper (5th Round, 138th Overall) will be joining Fabbro this Fall at Boston University. Konstantin Volkov (6th Round, 168th Overall) has yet to play a single game of senior level hockey and joins the back of the line in the Predators goaltending waiting list which includes: Marek Mazanec, Juuse Saros, Jonas Gunnarsson, Janne Juvonen, and Karel Vejmelka. Adam Smith (7th Round, 198th Overall) is a 20-year old defenseman but he only just logged his first year of collegiate hockey at Bowling Green State University which is where he would likely develop for at least another season or more.
So, what does all of that mean? Is this a bad draft by the Predators? The answer to that is no and a firm “NO” at that. This was a draft class selected with eyes set not on there here and now but on the two or four years from now mentality.
Forget about the Predators prospect pool itself for a moment and think about the Predators themselves. They’re solid, young, and trending upward. Their mission is to really maintain the team that they had last season while allowing the younger pieces to the program to mature and improve them well enough that they can get over the hump. There isn’t a need for any crazy trades or major free agent signings. The bigger goal should actually be re-signing certain players to long-term contracts. Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Calle Järnkrok all come to mind when I say that.
As for the Predators prospect pool it is in a really great place. You could look at the Milwaukee Admirals last season to get a good understanding of just that. The team entered the season as the second youngest in the American Hockey League and finished the regular season with a record of 48-23-3-2 (101 points, 0.664 points percentage). They won the Central Division and narrowly missed out on having the best record based on points percentage in the entire Western Conference. That was accomplished with young talents that were drafted by the Predators such as: Saros in net… Pontus Åberg, Kevin Fiala, Max Görtz, Vladislav Kamenev, and Félix Girard leading the charge up front at forward… and then Taylor Aronson on defense.
(Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
I am not saying that final point as a negative, because Aronson’s 2015-16 season with the Admirals in the AHL was a terrific one, but really give a good hard think about it. The Admirals, the Predators AHL affiliate, had one real legitimate drafted homegrown player pushing the bill for NHL playing time by the end of the season. Perhaps that was another circumstantial reason for why Aronson packed his bags, left the team, and signed for HC Lada in Russia’s KHL. Where did all the defensive depth go? If someone big in Nashville goes down due to injury, one of the top four defensemen, who is really going to legitimately step up from Milwaukee and fill that void for a long spell if called upon? The depth isn’t drafted depth, or long-term depth, it is relegated to signing mid-20 defensemen in the off-season with the hopes that their form can hold up or that they don’t regress or have to go up to Nashville in the event of an injury in the first place.
(Photo Credit: Todd Reicher)
There is a good reason the Predators drafted five defensemen with their eight draft picks in the 2016 NHL Draft. They need them. They don’t necessarily need them instantly but they need to know that their near-here defensive pipeline isn’t limited to Trevor Murphy, Jack Dougherty, Alexandre Carrier, and -for what it’s worth- Jonathan Diaby. Options are needed. Depth is needed. The prospects that the Predators have eyed up over the last many years that we are all experiencing and watching now are still really an aftershock of the Barry Trotz defensive-minded Predators where the need for a scorer was paramount. There are lots of those hanging around now or getting really to make impacts in the next few years. For example, we’re about to experience Justin Kirkland here in Milwaukee during the 2016-17 season. That out to be fun. As for the Admirals defense? It’s still rather bare. That will need to be fixed similarly to how it was last season -in free agency- through depth signings that are willing to take on two-way contracts.
Free agency is the short-term option when it comes to depth for NHL fringe players. As for the way the Predators drafted this weekend that is the long-term option where eventually a lot of these defensemen are going to be nestled into the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena playing Admirals hockey knocking on that first NHL opportunity… much like a good handful of forwards are doing right now. The two forwards that they drafted? They join that expansive forward pool that is only getting better. That Russian goaltender that was taken late with a sixth round pick? He either does tremendously well and joins the mix or prospects such as Saros, Gunnarsson, Juvonen, or Vejmelka simply edge him out as a matter of competition.
When it comes to a draft class such as this, with no real groundbreaking name talent selected, it isn’t a bad thing at all. When a lot of these players aren’t going to instantly join either Nashville (NHL), Milwaukee (AHL), or Cincinnati (ECHL) right away it isn’t a bad thing at all. As my pal Macho says, “the cream rises to the top.” When it comes to defensive prospects right now? There hasn’t been much cream. Thankfully that has been addressed. Now the real fun can begin.
BUFFALO, ON – Sep 23, 2015 : Ontario Junior Hockey League game action between Toronto and Newmarket at the Showcase, Adam Smith #4 of the Newmarket Hurricanes battles for control with Adam Deluca #19 of the Toronto Jr Canadiens during the second period. (Photo Credit: Andy Corneau // OJHL Images)
The Nashville Predators have selected defenseman Adam Smith with their final selection in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Smith turned 20-years old two weeks ago and split his 2015-16 season between the Newmarket Hurricanes (OJHL) and Bowling Green State University (NCAA). Between the two teams he amassed a combined 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 54 games.
The Predators 2016 NHL Draft Class features eight selections and a total of five defensemen taken out of those eight draft picks. It was clear, heading into the draft, that the Predators needed to do some restocking in that position with recent draft years being focused more towards the offense. I say job done and it is going to be a fun time here in Milwaukee seeing which of these young defensemen end up really hitting an extra gear and making an NHL leap in the next few years.
This is Konstantin Volkov aka Константин Волков. (Photo Credit: SKA.ru)
The Nashville Predators have selected goaltender Konstantin Volkov with their sixth round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Volkov is an 18-year old Russian goaltender who is 6-3 in stature and has been playing between the top two flights of Russia’s junior hockey league (MHL). In the 2015-16 season he played 17 games for SKA-1946 St. Petersburg (MHL) where he had a 2.33 goals against average and 0.902 save percentage. He also played in 6 games during the 2015-16 season for SKA-Varyagi Vsevolzhsk (MHL-B) where he had a 2.14 goals against average and a 0.925 save percentage. He is the first goaltender selected by the Predators in the 2016 NHL Draft and just the second European selected.
The Nashville Predators have selected center Patrick Harper with their fifth round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Harper will be turning 18-years old at the end of July and is expected to be joining Boston University this Fall. In 2015-16 Harper primarily played with Avon Old Farms School (USHS) where he produced 59 points (20 goals, 39 assists) in 27 games. He also played for Neponset Valley River Rats U-18 (MHSL U-18) where he scored 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) in 13 games as well as participating in 9 games with the Omaha Lancers (USHL) where he scored 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 9 games. He is the second forward, and center, selected by the Predators in the 2016 NHL Draft through their first six selections.
There’s really not photos of Hardy Häman Aktell out there so here is this photograph of Skellefteå AIK’s rink. (Photo Credit: Tobias Lindgren)
The Nashville Predators have selected defenseman Hardy Häman Aktell with their fourth round selection in the 2016 NHL Draft.
Aktell is now the fourth defenseman selected by the Predators out of their first five draft selections in the 2016 NHL Draft. Aktell also happens to be the first non-North American selection but is coming from a place fairly familiar to the Predators organization by the name of Skellefteå AIK. Of note, Aktell has yet to play a game of senior level hockey with Skellefteå AIK. He has been going through their youth academy and last season surged from the Junior-18 program to the Junior-20 team. The bulk of his 2015-16 season was spent as part of the J-18 side.
Admirals Roundtable 