The Nashville Predators have reassigned winger Viktor Arvidsson to the Milwaukee Admirals this morning. The move comes without any corresponding move up and one day before the Admirals host the Rockford IceHogs.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

Milwaukee, WI— Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Friday that the club has assigned forward Viktor Arvidsson to Milwaukee.

Arvidsson has appeared in three games for the Predators this season – with the club winning all three games – while scoring his first career goal in the season opener vs. Carolina on Oct. 8. A season ago, he was named to the 2015 AHL All-Rookie Team in his first season in North America after ranking third among league rookies and first on the Milwaukee Admirals in points (22g-33a-55pts).

Arvidsson and the Admirals return to action on Saturday night when they play host to the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Bradley Center, followed by a post-game concert with Foreigner.

Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday’s game, on-ice concert passes or any other Ads game this season at the Admirals office (510 W. Kilbourn Ave.), the BMO Harris Bradley Center Box Office, Ticketmaster, or by phone at (414) 227-0550. Use the promo code ICEPASS when purchasing on-ice passes on Ticketmaster.

Arvidsson’s season started by beating out both Kevin Fiala and Stevie Moses in Nashville’s pre-season camp to earn a place on the Predators opening day roster. His first career NHL point and goal would prove to be the game-winner on opening night for Nashville in their 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Since, Arvidsson has only played two more times and it appears as though Austin Watson has cemented himself in a line combination with Paul Gaustad and Eric Nystrom. Rather than see Arvidsson sit on the sidelines as a healhy scratch every night it looks as if Nashville as elected to send him to Milwaukee where he can factor in for top line minutes and be sharp when the time comes for a recall back to the NHL. This such action, of course, only happens with thanks to the fact everyone in the system is 100% healthy at the moment. *knocks on wood so hard that he breaks wood*

Happy to have Viktor Arvidsson back with the Admirals? Can his presence, combined with the last result, reignite the team and get them on a winning run?

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Well, that didn’t take too long. The Milwaukee Admirals have recalled defenseman Jimmy Oligny from the Cincinnati Cyclones after loaning him to their ECHL affiliate prior to the start of the weekend.

Oligny did suit up for the Cyclones regular season opener last night. The Cyclones won 5-1 over the Toledo Walleye and Oligny was caught for three minor penalties in the contest: roughing and two seperate cross-checking minors.

With how a few Admirals defensemen have performed in the opening two-games it does make sense for the Admirals to have at least one optional player in camp to rotate and cause actual competition to earn their spot in the lineup. The Admirals played their last game with a bare bones six defensemen setup as opposed to opening night when both Oligny and Garrett Noonan were healthy scratches in Chicago. The next game is Tuesday on the road against the Iowa Wild. I wouldn’t be that surprised to see Oligny reintroduced to the lineup considering his recall.

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The Nashville Predators have reassigned defenseman Garrett Noonan from the Milwaukee Admirals to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. In addition, defenseman Jimmy Oligny has been loaned by the Admirals to the Cyclones.

Noonan split last season between the AHL (40 games) and ECHL (23 games). As for Oligny, he managed to avoid any sort of ECHL stint in his first full-pro season last year. He played 53 games for the Admirals in the 2014-15 season while tallying 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists).

The two defensemen exit the Admirals just prior to the team’s home opener and leave the defensive numbers at six. Both Noonan and Oligny were healthy scratched for the season opening 5-1 defeat at Chicago on Saturday.

Surprised to see these two get sent down to the ECHL? Do you feel that Jonathan Diaby is being preferred regardless of performance to Noonan?

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The American Hockey League and Professional Hockey Players’ Association have come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new four-year agreement will be in place until August 31, 2019.

Press Release via AHL:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass./NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. … The American Hockey League and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association today announced the ratification of a new four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The new CBA, which is effective through August 31, 2019, has been ratified by both the AHL’s Board of Governors and the overwhelming majority of AHL players.

The CBA has been modified to include enhancements to the health and welfare plan currently offered to AHL players and their families, and to provide significantly better playoff compensation to players while allowing more flexibility to the AHL in Calder Cup Playoff scheduling and financing. The new Agreement also provides for increases in per-diem and minimum salary as well as modifications to housing and travel provisions.

“The American Hockey League remains fortunate to have an extremely positive and open relationship with our players and with the PHPA,” said David Andrews, AHL President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our previous CBA included several significant elements which have been beneficial to our players, our owners, and ultimately our fans, and this new agreement continues in that same spirit of cooperation.”

“The players advised us of the areas within the CBA most important to them, and we feel this deal addresses those issues, adding significant monetary and non-monetary value for present and future AHL players,” said PHPA Executive Director Larry Landon. “A number of players sacrificed family time to assist us with these negotiations, and I, along with all current and future AHL players thank them for their unwavering commitment.”

As it begins its historic 80th-anniversary season this weekend, the American Hockey League continues to serve as the top development league for all 30 National Hockey League teams. More than 88 percent of all players competing in the NHL are AHL graduates, and through the years the American Hockey League has been home to more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Since its inception in 1967, the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) has continued to serve as an advocate of player interests. Currently, the PHPA is the certified, U.S. National Labor Relations Board collective bargaining representative for over 1,600 players on 68 teams in the American Hockey League and ECHL.

This news comes on the day in which the 2015-16 AHL regular season starts. I’m sure more detailed information related to the CBA will be released later on. As of now all I have to go on is this paragraph of the Press Release:

The CBA has been modified to include enhancements to the health and welfare plan currently offered to AHL players and their families, and to provide significantly better playoff compensation to players while allowing more flexibility to the AHL in Calder Cup Playoff scheduling and financing. The new Agreement also provides for increases in per-diem and minimum salary as well as modifications to housing and travel provisions.

That to me sounds really good. The increase in minimum salary is an interesting addition and I also wonder if this CBA addresses how contracts for the Pacific Division teams (who play less games) divvy up money as opposed to the rest of the league. All sorts of minor questions of that nature related to the California based teams and AHL players living conditions on the West Coast intrigue me a bit – so I’d love to get a bit more concrete reading on the new CBA. Not to end on a Pacific Division hate fest: any health and welfare enhancements for the players and their families is great by me.

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The Nashville Predators have officially announced their 2015-16 opening night roster. In the list of names you’ll see that Viktor Arvidsson, Austin Watson, and Anthony Bitetto are on the squad to begin this year’s campaign in the NHL.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tenn. (October 6, 2015) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Tuesday that the club has assigned forward Jamie Devane to Milwaukee (AHL), setting Nashville’s active roster at 23 to start the 2015-16 season. The Predators open the campaign by hosting Carolina on Thursday (7 p.m. CT, FOX Sports Tennessee, 102.5 The Game) and Edmonton on Saturday (SPECIAL 6 p.m. START TIME, FOX Sports Tennessee, 102.5 The Game).

Forwards (13): Viktor Arvidsson, Gabriel Bourque, Mike Fisher, Filip Forsberg, Paul Gaustad, Cody Hodgson, Calle Jarnkrok, James Neal, Eric Nystrom, Mike Ribeiro, Craig Smith, Austin Watson and Colin Wilson.

Defensemen (8): Victor Bartley, Anthony Bitetto, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Barret Jackman, Seth Jones, Roman Josi and Shea Weber.

Goaltenders (2): Carter Hutton and Pekka Rinne.

The Nashville Predators commence the 2015-16 regular season with a pair of home games starting this Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. CT versus the Carolina Hurricanes and Saturday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. CT against the Edmonton Oilers (both games on FOX Sports Tennessee, 102.5 The Game). Opening Night festivities include a Preds Plaza Party presented by Lee Company, Predators players participating in the GOLDWALK and Gold jersey rally towels, courtesy of Nissan, for all fans in attendance. Saturday’s game will feature free Gold foam hockey helmets for the first 10,000 fans wearing Gold to celebrate the team’s first “Golden Saturday.” A limited number of tickets are still available for both games; call 615-770-7800 for more information.

As you also might have noticed. Jamie Devane has officially cleared waivers and been assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals. This comes off the news made by Admirals head coach Dean Evason last night on Center Ice that forward David Moss has been released from his PTO contract.

Thoughts on Arvidsson, Watson, and Bitetto all making the Nashville Predators opening day roster? Should the Admirals have kept the veteran Moss over another forward or is it best to let these prospects roam free this season?

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The Milwaukee Admirals have just announced a slate of roster moves. Jaynen Rissling Mikko Vainonen, Brandon Whitney, and Eric Robinson are set to join the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Meanwhile, Mike Ratchuk and Andrew Yogan have both been released from their PTO contracts with the Admirals.

Press Release via Milwaukee Admirals:

Milwaukee, WI—The Milwaukee Admirals announced today that the team has assigned defenseman Mikko Vainonen and forward Jaynen Rissling to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. In addition, the team has loaned forward Eric Robinson and goalie Brandon Whitney to the Cyclones and released defenseman Mike Ratchuk and forward Andrew Yogan from their tryout contracts.

The Admirals roster now sits at 24 players: two goalies, eight defensemen, and 14 forwards. A current roster is attached.

The Admirals will open the regular season next Saturday night, October 10 at the Allstate Arena against the Chicago Wolves. The Ads home opener is slated for Friday, October 16th at 7 pm against the Charlotte Checkers at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.

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As the press release states – the roster is now at 24 players. I get the impression current PTO signings David Moss and Adam Payerl might have earned places on the Admirals roster. Time will tell if they get bumped up to a fully fledged AHL deal. There’s certainly no rush on the Admirals to make that happen right now -but- it would streamline the season should Moss or Payerl be in the long term plans rather than going PTO deal to PTO deal at 25 games a pop.

Thoughts on the current shape of the roster? Would you have preferred to see Robinson or Rissling stay up in place of someone else? Should the keep both Moss and Payerl or will an addition such as Steve Moses make that overkill?

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Today the Nashville Predators announced three more cuts from their pre-season roster. Colton Sissons, Steve Moses, and Juuse Saros have been assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals, leaving the Predators with 25 skaters on the roster. Per the NHL’s Hockey Operations Guidelines two more players must be cut in order to trim the roster to its final 23 names for the 2015-16 season.

In Moses Milwaukee adds a player who racked up a KHL (arguably the second best league in the world) best 36 goals last year. Nashville is looking to see a consistent scoring touch in North America out of the 26-year-old, who has been playing overseas for the past three seasons. Meanwhile, Sissons returns for his third Admirals campaign eager to make his latest AHL visit a short one after back-to-back 25 goal seasons. Saros was always expected to play for Milwaukee, and will likely be the team’s netminder for part or all of Friday night’s preseason opener.

In addition, Milwaukee announced yesterday that five players have been signed to professional try-out contracts by the organization. Headlining the new Admirals PTOs is former Arizona Coyotes forward David Moss, a veteran of over 500 NHL contests. In addition, Adam Payerl, Andrew Yogan and Mike Ratchuk, who are all under contract with Milwaukee’s ECHL affiliate Cincinnati, and Dov Grumet-Morris were also added to the squad, as Daniel Lavender relayed yesterday. The latter four were all listed on the initial training camp roster yesterday, while Moss was not.

Moss represents an intriguing possibility for the Admirals going forward. Though not prone to physical play or fighting, the 33-year-old is a big winger (6’4″ 209 lbs.) with a decent scoring touch, as seasons of 20 goals (2008-09) and 17 goals in 2010-11 attest to. Moss played in 60 games for Arizona last season, picking up four goals, 12 points and a minus-18 rating. He played in 79 contests one season prior.

Lavender Update: Moses is signed to a one-way contract but did not require waivers to reach the Milwaukee Admirals. So, for all the competition that there was in camp, it appears as though Viktor Arvidsson has beaten them all at the wing spot. Not too shabby.

So Roundtable . . . What are your thoughts on the new additions? Does Colton Sissons deserve a roster spot in Nashville? Are you intrigued by the addition of David Moss on a minor league contract?

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The Milwaukee Admirals just provided a handy dandy PDF that reveals both new uniform numbers for players and a few names that have been added to training camp. The new additions includes: Adam Payerl (C), Andrew Yogan (LW), and Mike Ratchuk (D). For those unable to open the PDF above here it is in easy access jpeg form:

All three of the new names added to training camp are members of the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) this season. All are signed specifically to ECHL contracts so in any event where Payerl, Yogan, or Ratchuk get brought to the Admirals it comes on a loan or PTO basis from the Cyclones.

Payerl is an undrafted winger that has spent the majority of his career in the AHL under the Penguins banner. He has also played twice in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He doesn’t post eye popping offensive numbers, 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in the last two AHL seasons he’s played (84 games), but at 6’3″ and 218 lbs. he has the frame that can muscle it out on the lower lines and eat up minutes on the ice.

Yogan was drafted in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers. In his last year in junior hockey, 2011-12, he had an incredible scoring season for the Peterborough Petes: 79 points (41 goals, 38 assists) in 66 games. Added Fun Fact: He was teammates with Austin Watson and Trevor Murphy that season. Since, his pro career has slightly been tumbleweeds. His scoring numbers have receded and he’s going from an NHL draft pick, to AHL talent, to ECHL talent. Perhaps this new backdrop of Milwaukee/Cincinnati can reignite his scoring touch.

Ratchuk, were he to actually be a mainstay on the Admirals, would be the oldest defenseman on the roster at 27-years old. He was a second round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006 but has yet to play a game in the NHL. His time as a pro has been split between the AHL (147 career games) and ECHL (175 career games). Looking at his track record I’m going to take a guess injuries played a part in him going from 69 games played with the Wheeling Nailers in 2013-14 to 28 games played last season. No matter, he’s set to join his fourth different ECHL team this season and -should he stay healthy- can hopefully provide his 2013-14 level of performance.

In addition to these Cyclones being brought into training camp the roster list reveals some of the new uniform numbers for the Admirals: #6, Kristian Näkyvä… #7, Conor Allen… #8, Trevor Murphy… #10, Max Görtz… #25, Max Reinhart… #61, Brandon Whitney… #85, Mikko Vainonen… #91, Vladislav Kamenev.

The Admirals training camp roster should expand when some more faces arrive from Nashville in the coming days (e.g. Cody Bass, Jamie Devane, Juuse Saros, and more). I’d anticipate some moves being made in advance of Friday’s exhibition game against the Rockford IceHogs. As far as spotting guys tomorrow though? This list should help you out.

Once again, I’ll be at the MSOE Kern Center tomorrow morning for the start of training camp. You can check out the full training camp schedule here. Hope to see you rinkside.

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