Big Head. Bigger Call Up. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
With yesterday’s news that the Nashville Predators called up Miikka Salomäki and Viktor Stålberg it feels like the Milwaukee Admirals need some reinforcements of their own. Surprise! That’s just what we’ll be getting tonight. Zach Budish and Garrett Noonan have both been recalled from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.
Budish was sent down to the ECHL at the end of October after starting the season off with the Admirals where he scored 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 6 games. Since, he has enjoyed a very strong run for the Cyclones: 22 points (8 goals, 14 assists) in 27 games, a plus/minus rating of +10, and 20 penalty minutes.
Noonan was only just sent down to the Cyclones two days ago. He only played in one game before being brought right back. He registered a pair of shots on goal and took a holding penalty.
Thoughts on these call ups? Happy to see the return of Zach Budish? Would you start Garrett Noonan over Jonathan Diaby?
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Miikka Salomäki has just earned his first career NHL call up. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Prior to the start of tonight’s Milwaukee Admirals road game against the Grand Rapids Griffins they lost two forwards. Miikka Salomäki and Viktor Stålberg were both recalled to the Nashville Predators in response to injury woes taking place with the Ads parent club. It hasn’t been made official by either the Predators or Admirals as of yet.
Matt Cullen, Taylor Beck, and James Neal are all banged up at the moment for the Predators. This paves the way for Salomäki’s first career NHL call up. The Finn was certainly pushing his case last season to achieve his first taste of the NHL. He scored 50 points (20 goals, 30 assists) in 75 games to lead the Admirals in scoring during the 2013-14 season.
This season Salomäki has recorded 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in 29 games, has a plus/minus rating of +13, and 26 penalty minutes. In 10 games last month he scored 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) and missed 2 games due to illness.
Stålberg will look to get into his first game for the Predators since October 25th when the Pittsburgh Penguins shutout the Preds 3-0. Since he has had a rehab stint in Milwaukee, was injured on the last game of that rehab stint, was placed on waivers, cleared waivers, was assigned to the Admirals, called up, sent down, and is now being called back up. His AHL stats for the Admirals has seen him score 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games.
Thoughts? What do you make of Miikka Salomäki being selected by Nashville for his first NHL call up?
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Garrett Noonan has played in 24 of the Admirals 31 games this season. He looks set for his first career stint in the ECHL starting tomorrow night. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Milwaukee Admirals made a roster move on New Year’s Day. Garrett Noonan has been assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. The move comes after defenseman Jaynen Rissling was placed on injured reserved following last night’s 5-2 road win for the Cyclones against the Kalamazoo Wings.
Noonan has played in 24 games this season and has scored 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) with a plus/minus rating of +1 and 13 penalty minutes. At the time of this move he ranks fourth among Admirals defensemen in scoring but has been on the outside looking in recently with Jonathan Diaby being chosen in his place.
The Cincinnati Cyclones currently have a record of 13-11-0-4 (30 points) which sees them third in the North Division and ninth in the Eastern Conference. They place in Kalamazoo again on Friday before returning home to Cincinnati Saturday night for a game against the Wheeling Nailers.
Thoughts on today’s roster move? Was Noonan the correct candidate to be sent to the ECHL?
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For those following the hockey news today it has been a whirlwind of waivers and roster movement in general. It appeared as if Derek Roy was set to join the Milwaukee Admirals and make his debut tomorrow night after he was placed and then cleared waivers. Then comes the swerve job.
The Nashville Predators have traded Roy to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Mark Arcobello.
Arcobello has played every game this season at the NHL level for the Oilers where he has scored 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) in 36 games. Last season he did play 15 games for the Oklahoma City Barons in the AHL in which he tallied 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 15 games – but spent the bulk of his season in the NHL with Edmonton.
Thoughts on this trade by the Nashville Predators? Disappointed that the Milwaukee Admirals won’t be adding Derek Roy to the mix? Who gets the better of this deal?
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Derek Roy has played in nearly 700 career NHL games. What could his addition to the Milwaukee Admirals mean? (Photo by John Russell // NHLI via Getty Images)
Yesterday we had the news that Viktor Stålberg was being assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals and that Derek Roy was placed on waivers by the Nashville Predators. The waivers process has come and gone. No one claimed Roy. Therefore he has been assigned to the Admirals.
All things told this is a nice plus for both the Predators and Admirals. The benefits here in Milwaukee should be obvious. We’ll be gaining NHL level talent to bolster our forward group. As for how this benefits Nashville? Both remain in system. Both are going to be logging lots of minutes. And both will be perfect call ups in the event of injury.
Roy hasn’t played in the AHL since the 2005-06 when he played 8 games with the Rochester Americans scoring 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists). In his career he has played 101 games in the AHL and has scored 107 points (33 goals, 84 assists) with a plus/minus rating of -2 and 90 penalty minutes.
The majority of Roy’s career has been spent in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and most recently the Nashville Predators. His career totals in the NHL: 692 games played, 502 points (178 goals, 324 assists), +42, and 369 penalty minutes.
UPDATE: Roy has been added to the Milwaukee Admirals roster page on the AHL website and is listed as #11. The Admirals website states that he will not be available for tonight’s game in Iowa but will be making his Admiral debut tomorrow night at home when the team takes on the Lake Erie Monsters.
Thoughts on the potential addition of yet another Nashville Predator joining the ranks of the Milwaukee Admirals? What players are going to be on the out heading to Cincinnati of the ECHL? Does the added veteran presence help or hurt player development here in Milwaukee?
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Viktor Stålberg is heading back to the Milwaukee Admirals. He had 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) in four games during his rehab assignment earlier this season. (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
The Nashville Predators have announced this afternoon that Viktor Stålberg has been assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals and that Derek Roy has been placed on waivers.
This move for Stålberg comes just over a week after he was placed on waivers, cleared waivers, assigned to the Admirals, and recalled due to Paul Gaustad being placed on injured reserved. Quite the whirlwind. At least for now this roster move looks more cut and dry.
As for Roy, the veteran forward was placed on waivers and now will have to wait through the twenty-four hour process to see if he gets claimed. Should no one claim him he could find himself en route to the Admirals roster as well. Considering how attractive his contract is compared to the likes of Stålberg – I have a hard time believing a team wouldn’t try and snap up Roy.
Thoughts? What will the addition of Viktor Stålberg do for the Milwaukee Admirals? Who will be assigned to the Cincinnati Cyclones as a result? And do you feel we could end up seeing Derek Roy also joining Stålberg in Milwaukee?
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Well this has been a fun time in the life of Viktor Stålberg hasn’t it? (Photo Credit: Scott Paulus)
Yesterday we had the news in regards to Viktor Stålberg being placed on waivers by the Nashville Predators. The waivers process was completed and he was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals. Then came an M. Night Shyamalan level twist and he is heading right back to Nashville after Paul Gaustad was placed on injured reserved this afternoon.
Stålberg’s last twenty-four hours sort of sum up his season, quite possible his entire tenure, with the Predators. What a wild ride. This season he has played only 5 games in the NHL and has no offensive output to speak of. This may come through the injuries he started off with and tried to work out, but it just hasn’t gone well for him ever since he signed that four-year $12 million contract back in the summer of 2013.
Were he to have joined the Admirals, which he was about to, he would have been joining a team that he played 4 games with and tallied 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) before Brennan Evans decided to layeth the smackdown knee on knee to sideline him until this point in the season. Now that Gaustad is on IR, due to a lower-body injury that has kept him out the past three games, it is up to Stålberg to show not just the Predators he deserves his place on the roster… but each and every team in the NHL who didn’t claim him just what they were missing.
Thoughts on this wild ride for Viktor Stålberg? With the injury to Paul Gaustad, was Stålberg the ideal candidate to be called up to the NHL off the Milwaukee Admirals pool of players?
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Could Vladislav Kamenev be destined for Nashville/Milwaukee in the not so distant future? (Source: Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Earlier today, Admirals Roundtable Editor-in-Cheif Daniel Lavender, offered some terrific reporting on former/future Admirals during his where are they now update.
To expand on Lavender’s post, I thought I would bring up a little situation that is brewing half a world away in the Kontinental Hockey League, which might (also might not) have a huge impact on the future of the NHL/AHL.
The mainly Russian-based KHL is suffering quite a bit right now with the collapse of the ruble, combined with Russia’s economic santions resulting from the Ukraine crisis, all tied into that country’s oil-dominated economy. Many players that went to Russia over the past few years looking for big pay days in the “K” and low taxs are feeling the heat right now as their contracts are now worth about half of what they were this past summer.
Some teams are being rumored to fold up shop during the season (even in the good times very few KHL teams are actually profitable, a situation that never made much sense to me in the first place).
Check out @SlavaMalamud‘s timeline for update on KHL growing crisis…. Safe to say I think we’ll see a smaller KHL next season
What does this all mean? Well some NHL prospects currently playing Russia, might be on their way over to North America sooner than later. A couple of notables with ties to the Admirals/Predators playing in the KHL right now are defenseman Joonas Järvinen and prospect Vladislav Kamenev, Nashville’s second pick (42nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
From my knowledge Kamenev’s team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, is one of the league’s more stable franchises (they are also the defending KHL Champions, coached by “iron” Mike Keenan), but this situation is certainly something worth keeping abreast of. Usually, Milwaukee or other AHL teams rarely are development ground for Russian players with interest in playing in the NHL. Same goes for a lot of Finns, Swedes and so on, with the obvious exception being Milwaukee.
However, if the financial benefits to playing in the KHL continue to go south, expect a lot of international players to start looking for other playing options.
“Those (foreigners) who want to, can leave” – Kovalchuk on KHLers worried by the league’s troubles.
Just like every other Lake Erie power play on Tuesday, this one came and went in vain thanks to great work from Admirals captain Joe Piskula and goaltender Marek Mazenec. (Photo Credit: Lake Erie Monsters // flickr)
Remember when the only thing you could complain about as an Admirals supporter was that the team wasn’t in first place in it’s own division?
That sadly wasn’t a very long time ago, which shows how fast AHL teams can lose ground when they only earn two points in a seven-game stretch. As of Tuesday morning Milwaukee wasn’t even in the playoffs and needed a regulation win against Lake Erie to pass their Midwest Division rival from Cleveland to move back in.
Thanks to a 4-0 shutout of the Monsters, Bessie has fallen back below water (aka the eligible playoff team line) and Milwaukee and Lake Erie switched spots in the both the division and conference standings.
This time around the Admirals are gunning to start a winning streak. Prior to Tuesday’s win Milwaukee’s last victory came back on November 26 (pre-Thanksgiving) in a 4-1 beatdown of Chicago, aka the famed Rich Clune hate, hate, hating on the Wolves game.
Meanwhile, the Admirals’ last winning streak? That requires a Mr. Peabody and Sherman way back machine to go all the way back to Nov. 21 when the Admirals survived the Wolves 3-2 in overtime for their third straight “W“. Therefore, in the famous words of Major League Skipper Lou Brown, it has happened before:
In fact the schedule sets itself up well for Milwaukee to turn things around and begin remembering just how good a team they can be.
After tonight’s second pit stop in Cleveland, the Admirals roll out to Rochester (currently 13th in the West at 10-17-1-0) and then to Toronto for a little playoff payback (currently 12th in the West at 10-13-3-0), before returning home after Christmas. At the very worst the following two games are not within the Midwest Division, where five the conference’s 10 best squads reside.
~Oklahoma City is Folding~
In other news, the Oklahoma City Barons have decided to cease operations at the end of the season. The team just recently lost coach Todd Nelson, who was promoted to interim coach with OKC’s NHL affiliate, Edmonton, when the Oilers fired Dallas Eakins.
Via TSN’s Darren Dreger, big realignment changes are afloat for the AHL. Take a look at his latest series of tweets:
Sources tell TSN, the Edmonton Oilers will be pulling their AHL team out of OKC at the end of the season. Lease agreement expires end of yr.
As others have noted, the Oilers own the ECHL team in Bakersfield, so AHL transformation won’t be a big deal. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 18, 2014
~Stalberg Placed on Waivers for Purposes of Returning to Milwaukee~
The Nashville Predators placed Viktor Stålberg on waivers today ahead of the Holiday roster freeze. The Predators intend to have the oft-injured forward clear waivers and reach Milwaukee:
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the team has placed forward Viktor Stalberg on waivers with the intention of assigning him to the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals.
After missing six weeks of action due to a knee injury, Stalberg is prepared to return to action. The move was necessary before the team heads out for its final three games before the holiday break.
“A couple of injuries early in the season have prevented this from being the season Viktor trained all summer for,” General Manager David Poile said. “He has worked hard to return to the lineup. With Paul Gaustad and Taylor Beck day-to-day and still on our 23-man roster, the best option for Viktor and the organization at this time is to place Viktor on waivers with the hope that he will clear, go to Milwaukee to play games and continue his efforts to be ready for NHL game action.”
So Roundtable . . . Do you think Milwaukee can get a winning streak started during this all-important road trip? What do you think of the rumored new AHL West Division? Are you expecting Stalberg to clear waivers and rejoin Milwaukee?
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The Milwaukee Admirals have officially added veteran defenseman Ian White on a PTO contract. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
After some ramblings on Twitter in regards to this roster move taking place it is now official. The Milwaukee Admirals have signed veteran defenseman Ian White to a professional try-out contract (PTO).
The Admirals have announced today that they have signed veteran defenceman Ian White to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO).
Ian White is an NHL veteran with over 500 games and (45-134) 179 points. He was drafted in 2002 by the Toronto Maple Leafs and made his NHL debut in 2005. He has also played for the Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks, and most recently the Detroit Red Wings during the 2012-2013 season.This season he has one goal and two assists with the Providence Bruins.
The Milwaukee Admirals next game is against the Lake Erie Monsters on Thursday night in Cleveland and the Admirals return to play their next home game on Friday December 26th against Chicago at 7pm.
This move not only adds a veteran presence to the team but a well-needed right handed shot to the Admirals defense. Keep in mind, of all that has been rolled out this season, only Taylor Aronson has a right shot from the Admirals blue line.
White hasn’t played too many games these last few seasons. During the lockout season of 2012-13 he played 25 games for the Detroit Red Wings and then only 10 games for Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL last season. He is coming fresh off of a nice PTO stint with the Providence Bruins though: 9 games, 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists), 4 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of -3.
He should be taking part in tomorrow night’s contest when the Admirals scrap with the Lake Erie Monsters. By doing so it would be his 155th career appearance in the AHL. White already has 503 career games of NHL playing experience.
Thoughts on the addition of Ian White? What are your impressions of the Admirals signing a veteran defenseman? What impact can he have and what does it mean for the younger defenseman that will be losing a spot in his place?
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