I’ll call it surprising news out of Nashville today.  Ryan Ellis has been re-assigned to the Admirals.

Maybe he just loves the Dropkick Murphys THAT much…

With the Hal Gill trade, that bumped everyone down the depth charts a bit.  I kind of expected to see Jack Hillen sent down.

But with this 3-in-3, maybe the coaches just want him to get some meaningful playing time this weekend.  Maybe it’s another one of those spend-the-weekend-in-Milwaukee-and-we’ll-see-you-on-Monday assignments.  Maybe they didn’t want to put Hillen through waivers and risk losing him.

It’s kind of a different tone from me on Ellis….Yeah, I’ve softened up a bit.  Happy he was having some success in Nashville, and we’ll enjoy our time with him this go-around.

Everyone have fun at the Celebrity Serve event?

For the third time this season Admirals forward Chris Mueller has been recalled to Nashville. Mueller joins the Predators just in time for the start of a four-game homestand where Nashville will be hosting Vancouver, St. Louis, San Jose and Los Angeles.

In his two prior promotions this season Mueller skated in four games with Nashville, failing to record a point while registering a plus/minus rating of -1. Last season Mueller played in 15 games for the Predators, recording three assists. The Buffalo, New York native is still looking for that elusive first NHL goal.

Mueller’s promotion gives ample time for the Admirals to prepare for life without their leading scorer, with the team’s next game not coming until Friday night when Milwaukee will play host to Abbotsford.

So Roundtable . . . What do you think of Chris Mueller’s latest promotion? Is this the one that sticks, or will he back for the weekend?

In keeping with the recent run of organizational announcements from the Nashville, the Predators organization made the decision today to extend the contracts of both General Manager David Poile and Assistant G.M. Paul Fenton.

If Poile fulfills this contract, he will be with the Predators until the end of the 2014-2015 season. It has been an amazing run for Poile, who is the only general manager in franchise history.

“Today’s announcement is further recognition by the Predators’ ownership group of the outstanding job David has done as President of Hockey Operations since the franchise’s inception,” Nashville Chairman Tom Cigarran said today in statement. “The consistent success of the Predators on the ice is directly attributed to his ability to assemble and lead a team of management, coaches, scouts and administrators who continually identify, draft, develop and motive an exceptional group of experienced and young players. The ownership group believes that under his leadership, the Nashville Predators will soon achieve its goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”

Poile ranks third all time in NHL G.M. wins (1,049 entering this season), behind only Boston Bruins legend Harry Sinden and current New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather. Poile will pass Sinden in total games on March 17.

Meanwhile, Fenton is in his sixth season as Poile’s right-hand man. In addition Fenton serves as Milwaukee’s General Manager and has been the man responsible for much of the Admirals’ roster decisions. Since he’s taken on the role Milwaukee has yet to miss the AHL playoffs.

“Paul’s vast experience in the game, from playing at the NHL level to scouting and evaluation, combine to make him an integral and invaluable member of our organization,” Poile said of Fenton in a statement. “We’re thrilled that he will continue to play a key role in our hockey operations.”

So Roundtable . . . What do you think of today’s news? Are you happy with the continued stability, or do you feel like Milwaukee and Nashville have gone stagnant and need fresh voices in the front office?

Fans on the Team Blake bandwagon will point to the goal and talk about seller’s remorse.

Fans on the Team Good Riddance bandwagon will point to the fact that it went in off the leg of a defender.

But Geoffrion put 8 shots on net in his Bulldog debut, and one of them went in.

8 shots…that’s more than the total from his last three Admiral games.

Here’s how it happened….this sound byte is from the post-game show of the Hamilton Bulldogs broadcast, featuring Mr. Excitement himself, Derek Wills.

After allowing 24 hours to let Friday’s transaction between Nashville and Montreal sink in, I thought now would be the perfect time for me to weigh in on the acquisition of defenseman Hal Gill in exchange for Blake Geoffrion, Robert Slaney and the Predators second-round draft pick in 2012.

For the Predators: The price was high, but Nashville general manager David Poile landed one of the top two of three defenseman actually available at this point. Gill brings a boatload of playoff experience as a shutdown specialist on the blueline, and was a key cog for Pittsburgh on their recent Stanley Cup run. Gill then topped that performance during the 2010 playoffs for Montreal where he and the unheralded Josh Georges paired to completely neutralize top offensive units of both Washington and Pittsburgh.

Yes, Gill is 36-years-old and could leave as an unrestricted free agent in the off season. However, Hal Gill is the type of player you win Stanley Cups with. He provides a perfect compliment to Shea Weber and Ryan Suter as a three or four defenseman, offering size and strength to a blueline that needs it. Gill is a weapon shot blocking and playing the penalty kill, and he gives Nashville impressive depth on the point.

Here is Predators general manager on why he acquired Gill:

“Hal Gill brings our team a number of elements – size, penalty-killing ability, depth on defense and playoff experience,” Poile said in a statement. “(Gill) has won a Stanley Cup and played a combined 69 playoff games over the last four years. (His) experience that significantly benefits our team.”

For Montreal: The price Montreal extracted for their rental defenseman was high. Personally, I felt a second round pick or a third round pick and prospect would have been more than sufficient, but the top options available around the deadline were Pavel Kubina, Tim Gleason (recently taken off the market) and Gill. The lack of available players certainly raised Gill’s price.

Personally I think Poile had a choice to trade either a first-round pick or second round pick and prospects. If given that option, I, like Poile would have taken the second-round pick and sacrificed a prospect. With the system well stocked, Geoffrion was expendable.

“You got to give up to make a deal at this trade deadline,” Poile said on media call Friday afternoon. “We did in giving up our second-round pick and Blake Geoffrion.”

Robert Slaney leaves as a throw in. Slaney is player with a little bit of potential, but is hardly significant either way. I am kind of surprised that he was involved.

For Milwaukee: This might be case of addition by subtraction. After last season, Geoffrion wanted to be with the Predators on a full time basis and got his shot to be in the early going. Fighting through injuries and playing in the AHL in 2011-2012, the fire Geoffrion showed during the second half of 2010-2011 was not there on a night in and night out basis. Now Geoffrion gets another shot with another organization, and the Admirals get another spot in the lineup for a player eager to be there.

My final verdict: I think this a great trade for Nashville. The Predators are gearing up for a serious Stanley Cup run this season and realize that 1) they could be down to only more playoffs with both Suter and Weber 2) only two playoffs with Weber if they don’t resign. This trade for Gill combined with the addition of Mike Fisher a year ago, shows that Nashville is committed toward a winning. That might entice Weber and Suter to stay on board after a summer which might have cast some doubts.

For Geoffrion this season equates to setback for the former Hobey Baker winner after a great development year in 2010-2011. But in Montreal Geoffrion gets a change of scenery (Blake is still growing as a player) but more importantly he adds some size and strength to a Canadiens lineup that sorely needs it. Combine that with the legacy factor of Geoffrion’s family and Montreal should be acquiring a player who will be beloved at the Bell Centre.

Poile admitted that Geoffrion’s family history played into the trade, much like acquisition of Mike Fisher a year ago: “If it wasn’t for Montreal, the unique situation with his family . . . I probably wouldn’t have traded him. It’s extremely tough to do because of (Blake’s) obvious ties to Nashville.”

Geoffrion expressed some mixed emotions on the trade via twitter: “Wow..what a day…it’s bitter-sweet, going to miss my hometown of Nashville, but going to where it all started with my family…MONTREAL!!!”

In closing I say a fond goodbye to Blake. It has been great watching you play 5+ years of hockey in the state of Wisconsin. Best of luck fulfilling the Geoffrion family heritage in Montreal.

If you’d like to elaborate, leave a comment!

Big news this afternoon, as it has been announced that the affiliation agreement between the Nashville Predators and the Milwaukee Admirals is being extended through the 2013-14 season, with a mutual option for the 14-15 season.

The Admirals and Predators will be extending what is currently the third longest continuous relationship, behind the Providence-Boston and New York Rangers-Connecticut duos.

This is very good news, especially considering the doubt that was cast upon the partnership at the start of the season.  You may recall that Jeff Cogen , the Chief Executive Officer and alternate Governor of the Predators, reportedly commented at their Skate Of The Union event that he expected all of the primary affiliates to be within three hours driving distance.

I think the best quote in the press release comes from David Poile, where he recognizes that the staff in Milwaukee have ‘created a major league environment for our prospects.’  I think that’s one of the under-appreciated aspects of the relationship between the two teams.  They get to train in first class facilities, and get to live and play in a great city.  Do you think the Flyers feel the same way about the Adirondack Phantoms?  (I’m sure Glens Falls, NY is nice and all….but…..)

So here’s to the future.  Here’s to the new boss….same as the old boss.  Which is great.  And you can still drink every time you hear the phrase “The road to Nashville goes through Milwaukee.”