The Predators’ third defense pairing is going to be a weakness this season, regardless of which two players are on it. Locks: Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Dante Fabbro, Dan Hamhuis, Roman Josi, Yannick Weberįighting for a spot: Matt Irwin, Steven Santini, Jarred TinordiĪssigned to the AHL: Frederic Allard, Arvin Atwal, Alexandre Carrier, Jeremy Davies, Matt Donovan, Brandon Fortunato, Josh Healey, Scott Savage, Adam Smith At least one of them will be waived by next week. Gaudreau has never let his brief stardom affect his mindset, but the 26-year-old has reached his ceiling as a solid but unspectacular forward. Salomaki’s straight-ahead, physical style has made him a favorite of the coaching staff, but his impact has been negligible. Salomaki and Gaudreau, who have a combined 14 career goals, aren’t going to provide much of anything in the offensive zone. Carr’s ability to generate high-quality scoring opportunities should help, and it’s possible Smith moves to the third line if Turris, who practiced with Johansen and Arvidsson on Monday, starts as a top-six winger. Last week, Predators general manager David Poile said, “A lot of the decisions that we’re going to make at training camp will be with an eye towards offense.” The projected bottom six will not accomplish that. I think it’s a really good, positive thing for our organization to have that depth.” … We’re really happy with the camp of both of them. “Young players sitting out of the lineup up here or playing fourth-line minutes, especially those two players, doesn’t really accomplish anything. It’s a chance for them to continue to develop and play in all situations.

Rem coming in and really getting a look at him for the first time, he played the one game at the end of last year, but that was when he first got here, and he’s a completely different player now. “Eeli really showed improvement from last camp to this camp. “They both had good camps,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said Monday.

Pitlick, though, wouldn’t have looked out of place on the Predators’ third line. The decision to send Tolvanen to the AHL makes sense, as he doesn’t belong in a bottom-six role.

Neither required waivers to be sent to the minors, which was always working against them, even as they had strong showings in the rookie tournament and preseason games. Locks: Viktor Arvidsson, Nick Bonino, Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Mikael Granlund, Rocco Grimaldi, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Johansen, Colton Sissons, Craig Smith, Kyle Turris, Austin Watsonįighting for a spot: Daniel Carr, Frederick Gaudreau, Miikka SalomakiĪssigned to the AHL: Colin Blackwell, Lukas Craggs, Laurent Dauphin, Tanner Jeannot, Zach Magwood, Thomas Novak, Mathieu Olivier, Joe Pendenza, Rem Pitlick, Anthony Richard, Hugo Roy, Cole Schneider, Eeli Tolvanen, Yakov Trenin, Josh WilkinsĪssigned to juniors: Egor Afanasyev (OHL Windsor), Philip Tomasino (OHL Niagara)Īny potential drama disappeared when the team assigned Tolvanen and Pitlick, both of whom stood out during the preseason, to the Milwaukee Admirals. The Predators made the first significant cuts to their roster Sunday and Monday, leaving 26 players in training camp.īased on who remains, it appears the Predators’ 23-man opening-night roster, which must be submitted by Oct.

Predators roster