The entire Nashville Predators organization is currently in off-season mode. And, thanks to their cracking staff, have provided a schedule full of the important dates ahead on the off-season calendar.

2015 Nashville Predators Offseason Schedule

As you’ll have seen atop the list, the IIHF World Championships started today in Marek Mazanec‘s native Czech Republic. The newest Predators signing Steve Moses made an immediate impression by scoring a ridiculous backhander on soon-to-be teammate Pekka Rinne. I’m sure that will provide an instant laugh once he joins Nashville camp.

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The Milwaukee Admirals and Cincinnati Cyclones didn’t make their respective playoffs. Meanwhile, the Admirals parent club the Nashville Predators concluded their season following an opening round playoff defeat to the Chicago Blackhawks in a tight six-game series.

To get some perspective on the Predators season and some insight on the off-season to come I reached out to Penalty Box Radio’s Justin Bradford to do a Q&A with Admirals Roundtable. I had some Q’s on the mind. He was kind enough to provide some A’s!

Continue reading “Q&A with Penalty Box Radio’s Justin Bradford” →

You know what the Milwaukee Admirals lacked this season? Finns. There was only one player from Finland on the roster this season and that was Miikka Salomäki. He was surrounded by a gaggle of Swedes with last names ending in berg. Well, good news Miikka! The Nashville Predators may have just added a second Finn into the fold for next season by signing free agent defenseman Kristian Näkyvä to an entry level contract.

Press Release via Nashville Predators:

Nashville, Tennessee (April 24, 2015) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Friday that the club has signed free-agent defenseman Kristian Näkyvä to a one-year, entry-level contract.

Näkyvä, 24 (11/18/90), played his first season with Lulea of the Swedish Hockey League in 2014-15, tying for the league lead among defensemen in goals (10), tying for fifth at the position in points (29) and ranking eighth in assists (19).

Prior to joining Lulea, the 6-0, 190-pounder spent three seasons with JYP of the Finnish Elite League, ranking among the Top 10 blueliners in points in both 2012-13 and 2013-14 while winning a league title in 2011-12.

A native of Helsinki, Finland, Näkyvä played his junior hockey in the Espoo Blues organization, captaining the club to a junior league title in 2008-09 while winning the Raimo Helminen Award for having the best plus/minus (+32).

I would have wagged my finger and made mention that not all entry level contracts guarantee that the player will jump the pond and arrive in North America, Max Görtz, but this is a one-year deal. That pretty much tells me he’s an Admiral next season. When you think about what that means for everyone else it makes competition for an AHL spot potentially even tougher than it was this season… or does it?

Jonathan Diaby, Garrett Noonan, Johan Alm, Jaynen Rissling, and Mikko Vainonen are the only guaranteed defensemen that will be back next season. The signing of Näkyvä could signal the end of the road for Anthony Bitetto, Joe Piskula, Taylor Aronson, or Jimmy Oligny. Now, when reading those names, who would you pick as the odd man out? I’d hate to speculate (so allow me to speculate) but Oligny is the odd man out in this situation with Näkyvä, also a left-handed shooting defenseman, now in the mix. This being pretty much the first of many off-season moves to be made system wide I suppose we should all just kick back and wait to see what happens next.

Thoughts on the signing of Kristian Näkyvä? What does his inclusion to the organization mean to some of the defensemen in Milwaukee or Cincinnati? Who do you think ends up getting let loose as a result?

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Firstly, a massive cheers to the Milwaukee Admirals and Buck Bradley’s for last night’s Nashville Predators viewing party. Lot of good fans were on-hand. Favorite of mine included someone wearing a Darren Haydar Predators #54 jersey that was autographed. I cut loose after the second period and, needless to say, that was a good call. That game almost lasted as long as the pub was scheduled to be open until. Shame that the Predators are now down 3-1 in the series but I still am optimistic about things. I feel out of all opening round series they’re currently playing the biggest and closest chess match there is.

Alright, let’s just point out the obvious. This is not “Season in Review” material. In fact, this isn’t even Predators organization related. Instead I want to ask you folks a question that struck me the moment the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery went down.

Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel will be the prizes of the 2015 NHL Draft but it’s pretty clear that McDavid is the favored of the two. When the Edmonton Oilers lucked out on winning their fourth draft lottery in five years it poses a question that should have other teams in the NHL looking into their proverbial wallets.

Would you be willing to trade the number one overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft or part ways with one of your recent first overall selections?

When the lottery was decided the name Eric Lindros was trending on Twitter for quite awhile. While most pointed to his decision stand off on the Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 NHL Draft I instead thought of the repercussions of what trading him away did for the Nordiques franchise. Look at what became of the eventual franchise known as the Colorado Avalanche after the Lindros trade and look at what became of the team that had acquired him.

While supposed generational talents come along every so often, McDavid has been hyped for some time now, it poses a question of value and quantity over quality. The Oilers haven’t had much of either in a long time despite their top draft selections which could mean a haul for either Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, or Nail Yakupov won’t give you the kickback as a trade for McDavid would. Could it be possible for the Oilers to pass on this year’s top pick, settle on those aforementioned named, but better their team by claiming a big time price tag attached to McDavid’s name? Highly unlikely, but -if they did- the right package back could set their ship pointed in a direction they’ve not been pointed in for decades.

The more likely alternative here is the one I look forward to actually seeing play out. If McDavid is in who should be on the move and where’s that kid going to go? If you look at the names above the likely man McDavid would directly replace would be Nugent-Hopkins as a center. Last season he produced 56 points (24 goals, 32 assists) in 76 games for the Oilers. I’d go as far to say he is the most consistent member of their first overall selection club and should be worth the most on the trade market. To boot, his contract isn’t all that bad and carriers into the 2020-21 season. He could bring in some nice pieces to the Oilers mix to make them better in the long run as well. The question is who would be gunning for him and what sort of ransom would the Oilers be asking in exchange?

I was mystified when the Oilers won yet another draft lottery but it does present an interesting situation in which I feel someone will need to jump ship and the Oilers are the guys holding all their cards as a result of this position of draft power. Recent history has shown that they simply don’t have a clue at structuring a team for success but the ability to change that is there with the right move. The question is, do you trade that first overall pick or send one of your former first overall selections away? I’m pretty sure at least one of those could become a reality. And, as Oilers assistant general manager Bill Scott said at the draft lottery, you never know what can happen.

Put yourselves in the Edmonton Oilers camp for a moment. What would you do in their position? What deal would you make and what would you be looking to acquire for either the top overall pick in this year’s draft or one of your former top draft selections?

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