Tag: Nashville Predators

5 incredible Yaroslav Askarov saves from the Admirals’ stunning 18-game AHL win streak

The Milwaukee Admirals are tearing up the AHL, and stellar goalie Yaroslav Askarov is a big reason why.

The Milwaukee Admirals have been the best story in hockey this season you might not be aware of, as the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate has won 18-straight games, the second-best ever streak in the league.

Part of that incredible run has been fueled by young goalie Yaroslav Askarov, who has been playing some of the best hockey of anyone in either the NHL or AHL as of late. He’s stood firm for five shutout wins since Jan. 5.

With rumors flying about the Predators possibly trading goalie Juuse Saros, Askarov could be the next star goalie once the Preds call him up permanently from Milwaukee to man the pipes in Smashville.

Check out some of Askarov’s stellar highlights during this impressive Admirals win streak and get excited about when he brings his acrobatic, stuntman-ready goalie work to the big leagues on a full-time basis.

Really, these highlights are stunners. We’re so excited for Askarov’s future NHL days.

Predators’ defenseman Roman Josi made an incredible glove save (that should’ve been a penalty)

JOSI

Longtime Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi pulled off an incredibly rare feat during a Saturday matinee against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

While trying to protect the net from a Stars’ Wyatt Johnson shot, Josi swatted away the puck away with his hand for an incredible glove save. His maneuver prevented what could’ve been an easy Dallas goal and reinforced how talented he is on the ice.

Josi’s save hypothetically should have triggered a Stars penalty shot from some perspectives since he closed the glove on the puck, but the refs decided to let this one slide.

Instead of it giving Dallas another easy chance at a goal, it gave Josi one of the coolest highlights of the day.

Dallas fans might be enraged by Josi getting away with one here, but the highlight still stands as one of the best things you’ll see in NHL action this holiday weekend.

Josi has always been such a reliable defenseman for the Predators, and moments like this show exactly why.

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Austin Watson deserves an NHL suspension for nailing Jeremy Lauzon with a reckless, pointless slap shot

This was so reckless.

I don’t honestly know if you can point to motive when it comes to a slap shot in hockey that could be aimed at a player. The point is usually to hit the puck as hard as you can so that it gets through traffic and past a netminder.

But in this example? It feels like an exception.

At the end of the Nashville Predators’ 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the clock was ticking down. The Lightning’s Austin Watson reared back and hit a slapshot from his own zone … and it nailed the Preds’ Jeremy Lauzon. The defenseman went down, looked hurt and was furious, while his teammates went after Watson, and rightfully so.

Why would Watson hit that kind of slapper when the game was well out of hand? And with Lauzon right in front of him?!

Writer Alex Daugherty said he heard Watson tried to visit Lauzon to see if he was OK. And Predators head coach Andrew Brunette was mad for good reason:

Maybe motive isn’t the point and perhaps it wasn’t aimed at Lauzon. But like with high sticking, you’re responsible for your actions whether they were deliberate or not. There’s no place for this.

The NHL needs to suspend Watson for this to make a point: If a game is out of hand and the clock is ticking down, a simple lifting of the puck into the air will do just fine.

The Predators buying out Matt Duchene furthers their dramatic roster revamp

Barry Trotz is already making his presence known in his return to the Predators.

The Nashville Predators had already taken a sledgehammer to their roster this year, but Friday’s latest blow might’ve been the most shocking.

Rather than let him play out more of his expensive contract, the team placed center Matt Duchene on unconditional waivers with the intent to buy out the remainder of his deal.

The Predators will reportedly eat $19 million over the next six years for Duchene’s buyout, another sign of just how determined the team is to clean house and start fresh under new general manager (and former coach) Barry Trotz.

Duchene will enter NHL free agency as one of its most desirable prospects, and the Predators will have about $24 million to spend once the market opens on Saturday (fourth-best in the NHL).

Duchene is just the latest in Nashville’s roster purge, as the team traded Ryan Johansen to the Colorado Avalanche earlier this month.

Along with Johansen and Duchene, the Predators parted ways with guys like Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Tanner Jeannot ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline this past winter.

That’s not even mentioning the in-season waiving of Eeli Tolvanen, who landed (and blossomed) with the Seattle Kraken, or the firing of head coach John Hynes this summer for former Florida Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette.

It’s an eye-opening amount of players that have been jettisoned from Music City, as last year’s starting Nashville lineup is largely gone.

Trotz will officially take over as general manager for the retiring David Poile on Saturday, and it looks increasingly like he’ll continue to rework Nashville’s roster in a major retooling.

The revamp has been so dramatic in Nashville that the team reportedly pondered trading elite goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov to move into the 2023 NHL Draft’s top few picks this week.

It genuinely feels like anything is possible for Nashville going ahead, making them one of the NHL’s most unpredictable teams this offseason.

Could the team keep Askarov and trade one of the NHL’s best goalies in Juuse Saros to land a top-six scoring option? Does the team have a veteran Tyson Barrie in its plans after acquiring him from the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline? What about another vet like Ryan McDonagh?

Only team captain Roman Josi and longtime offensive stalwart Filip Forsberg feel safe in terms of veteran players on Nashville’s roster.

With plenty more moves to come, Trotz looks like he’s going to shape the team in his image as he finds a way to get Nashville back to the Stanley Cup Finals. It’ll be fascinating to see if his aggressive strategy is exactly what the Predators need to really get back in contention, or if it’s a bridge too far.

Retiring Predators GM David Poile got the coolest send-off at the 2023 NHL Draft

Retiring Predators GM David Poile got the coolest send-off during Wednesday’s 2023 NHL Draft.

Retiring Nashville Predators general manager David Poile got plenty of love during this week’s 2023 NHL Draft.

As the draft was being held in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena, Poile went through his very last draft process with the Predators before he retires at the end of the month.

Former Nashville coach Barry Trotz is taking Poile’s place as the team’s general manager.

Known for pulling off quite a trade, Poile’s final trade with Nashville wound up being an incredibly special one.

In the draft’s seventh round, Poile swapped picks with New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who was Nashville’s very first captain.

With the pick, Poile selected right winger Aiden Fink out of Brooks (AJHL).

After the pick, Poile got a very well-deserved standing ovation from everyone in attendance at Wednesday’s draft rounds.

It’d be a moment for a lifetime in the building Poile helped bring hockey to, and he’ll undoubtedly go down as one of the most important figures in Predators (and NHL) history.

Here’s why the Predators might’ve traded for a player that could be gone in a week

The Predators traded for a player that will be a free agent in a week. Why might it make sense?

The Nashville Predators made a fascinating trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, acquiring a player they may lose in a week.

The Predators announced that longtime center Ryan Johansen had been traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for veteran forward Alex Galchenyuk.

At first glance, that just seems like a player-for-player swap between a team trying to get back to playoff contention (Nashville) and a team trying to win another Stanley Cup (Colorado).

However, the deal becomes a bit confusing once you realize that Galchenyuk’s contract expires on July 1, the start of NHL free agency.

What gives? Why would Nashville trade a veteran starter like Johansen for the rights to a player that might not sign with the Predators?

As the old saying goes, follow the money.

The Predators are entering a new era under Barry Trotz, the team’s former coach who is now its general manager.

Trotz’s first big move of his tenure looks like it’s a very peculiar salary dump, one that still sees the Predators taking on half of Johansen’s contract for the next two seasons. It’ll save Nashville $8 million over the next two years while Colorado pays the other $8 million.

Teams rarely just trade a player to a team without any return, as that would just be a gift. From 2013-19, Galchenyuk scored double-digit goals a season before tapering off during the 2019-20 season.

Galchenyuk only played in 11 games for the Avalanche in 2022-23 with no goals or points to show for it. However, he did score 16 goals in 42 regular season games for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles last season.

If the Predators want to re-sign Galchenyuk, they’ll have first dibs as they hold his rights for the next week. However, if they let him walk, this is the rare case where a team traded a player to dump his salary without anything in return but salary cap space. It’d basically just be a very elaborate release.

There has to be some sort of return on an NHL trade, and a player’s rights for one week’s time does technically count.

Could the Predators have at least gotten a prospect? It’s fair to wonder. Could Galchenyuk wind up signing with Nashville and working on his comeback effort? It’s very possible.

At the very least, Galchenyuk walking just means the Preds saved some cap space and got Johansen to a contender with the trade. It could be a show of goodwill for a veteran player like Johansen that could reverberate positively in the locker room for other Nashville players as Trotz gets going in his new role.

For now, this is the most curious of NHL trades, one that nets the Avalanche a reliable offensive veteran and the Preds some salary cap space for possible moves in the future… and a player that might be gone in a week.

Predators legend Pekka Rinne received a beautiful statue tribue outside of Nashville’s arena

The Nashville Predators unveiled a beautiful statue for former goalie Pekka Rinne on Saturday.

A monument to the greatest Nashville Predator of all time will forever live outside the team’s arena.

On Saturday, the organization revealed a statue honoring former Predators goalie Pekka Rinne right in front of Bridgestone Arena.

The goalie led the franchise to its lone Western Conference title and Stanley Cup appearance in 2017.

After retiring in 2021, Rinne’s No. 35 was retired by the team in 2022 and was hoisted to Bridgestone Arena’s rafters along with the franchise’s other banners.

A big crowd of Predators fans gathered outside of the arena ahead of Nashville’s afternoon tilt against the Seattle Kraken as the statue was unveiled.

Retiring Predators general manager David Poile spoke ahead of the unveiling, thanking the goalie for all he had done for the franchise.

As for Rinne, he maintained his patented sense of humor while taking in the special Saturday festivities.

It’s not often NHL goalies get a statue unveiled for them outside of where they used to play, but that’s just how much Rinne meant and continues to mean to the Predators franchise. It’s a fitting tribute to a team legend.

Nashville’s sky-high trade haul from Tampa Bay for Tanner Jeannot stunned the NHL world

This was A LOT for an unproven player.

With the NHL trade deadline on the way, the Nashville Predators are raking in the draft picks after sending young forward Tanner Jeannot to the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Check out Mary Clarke’s comprehensive tracker on many of the deals coming through.)

With the Lightning trying to fortify its offense in a treacherous Eastern Conference, the team was willing to send the Preds a king’s ransom for adding Jeannot to the rotation.

After a standout rookie season in 2021-22, Jeannot had cooled a bit for Nashville leading up to his trade. He’s played in 56 games so far this season, notching five goals and nine assists. Jeannot has also posted a 5.7 percent shooting rate lately.

In exchange for Jeannot, Tampa Bay sent retiring general manager David Poile and Nashville a 2025 first-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick, a 2023 third-round pick and young defenseman Cal Foote.

Lightning vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois defended the trade for Jeannot by assessing the risk of draft picks compared to the promise of a young player with experience.

While BriseBois has certainly earned the benefit of the doubt after leading his franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, the hefty haul for Jeannot still earned some dropped jaws for NHL fans and beyond.

Although, if Tampa Bay pushes ahead in the Eastern Conference and Jeannot plays a big role, nobody will be doubting the price then.

Barry Trotz becoming the Predators’ new GM makes the head coaching market scarce

Barry Trotz is set to take over David Poile’s job as Predators’ GM in late June.

Barry Trotz is taking himself off the NHL head coaching market as early as this summer.

On Sunday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman broke quite the news amidst a hectic trade deadline. David Poile is set to retire from his position as general manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Nashville Predators, handing over the GM reins to Trotz on June 30 before the start of free agency.

Trotz famously got his coaching start in Nashville in 1998-99, where he coached over 1,000 games and ended his time there with a 557-479-60-100 record. The Predators made the playoffs seven times under Trotz’s guidence.

The news is big for a few reasons. First, Poile has been general manager of the Predators since the team’s inception in 1997, with his retirement ending 26 years of work in Nashville.

Not only that, Trotz has been highly sought after as a head coaching candidate after being fired from the New York Islanders in May 2022. With Trotz’s departure from the field, the NHL head coaching market is looking quite thin for big-name talent ahead of the 2023-24 season.

It’s no surprise to see Trotz become the Predators new general manager considering his history with the team. It seems as if Nashville’s future is in good hands.

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Bruins’ Linus Ullmark netted the NHL’s first goalie goal since 2020

GOALIE GOAL!

Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark pulled off a rare feat during the waning seconds of his team’s Saturday game against the Vancouver Canucks.

With Vancouver pulling its own goalie down 2-1 to Boston, Ullmark cleared the puck out of Boston’s side of the ice with enough force and focus to net it in the Canucks’ goal.

It’s the first goalie goal to happen in the NHL since former Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne netted one sometime before his retirement.

Naturally, Ullmark’s Bruins teammates were eager to celebrate their goalie on his special accomplishment. It’s been a heck of a year for Boston, and Ullmark’s goal should be a definite highlight.

The Bruins sit atop the competitive Athletic Division with 95 points going into the last stretch of the regular season.

As the team continues to push for its first Stanley Cup since the 2010-11 season, they’ll need more magic like this from Ullmark to make it happen.