Sultzer and Franson Sent to Milwaukee Due to Pred's Roster Glut

With the acquisitions of Dustin Boyd and Denis Grebeshkov by Nashville as trade deadline pickups Alexander Sulzer and Cody Franson have been sent to Milwaukee to bring the roster back to 22.

The Preds now have six experienced defensemen and Sulzer and Franson will have the opportunity to play top two d-men minutes down the stretch for the Admirals.

The Preds are loaded on the blueline and these two have proven that they can play at the NHL level and will make a return at some point.

Here is the full release from the Predators...

PREDATORS REASSIGN DEFENSEMEN ALEXANDER SULZER AND CODY FRANSON TO MILWAUKEE

Nashville, Tenn. (March 3, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has reassigned defensemen Alexander Sulzer and Cody Franson to Milwaukee (AHL).

Sulzer, 25 (5/30/84), did not play in Tuesday’s win vs. Edmonton, the Predators first game back from the 2010 Olympic Break. He represented Germany for the second consecutive Olympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games, playing in all four of his nation’s games and averaging 15:09 of ice time. The 92nd overall pick in the 2003 Entry Draft has a pair of assists in 18 games for the Predators in 2009-10, and 19 points (4g-15a) in 19 games with the Admirals.

Franson, 22 (8/8/87), has been sidelined since sustaining a broken rib on Feb. 2, missing seven consecutive games. At the time of his injury, he ranked third among rookie blueliners in goals (5), and fourth in both points (15) and assists (11), in addition to ranking first among all rookies in plus/minus (+11). The Sicamous, B.C., native has five points (1g-4a) in five contests with the Admirals this season.

The Predators play an NHL-high 17 games during the month of March, with the second of 10 home games coming tomorrow night at Bridgestone Arena against the Los Angeles Kings (7 p.m.). After a one-game trip to Detroit on Friday (6:30 p.m.), the Predators host the Vancouver Canucks in a matinee contest on Sunday (2 p.m.). Tickets to all 11 remaining regular season games are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass