Preds Prospect Ryan Ellis Set to Join the Milwaukee Admirals Playoff Run

As expected, it is being reported by Admirals Roundtable that OHL two time Defenseman of the Year, Ryan Ellis will join the Milwaukee Admirals today as they head into the Western Division Finals tonight against Houston. Ellis's Windsor Spitfires were eliminated from the OHL Playoffs earlier this week so his junior career is officially over.

Ellis probably would have been able to hold his own at the AHL level this season were it not for the rules that keep players assigned to their junior team or to the NHL until their 20 year old season.

Make the Jump for the full Press Release from the Admirals...


ADMIRALS SIGN ELLIS TO ATO

Nashville First Round Pick Joins Admirals from Windsor

Milwaukee, WI—The Milwaukee Admirals announced today that they have signed highly decorated defenseman Ryan Ellis to an Amateur Try-Out contract (ATO).

Ellis was recently named the OHL Defenseman of the Year for the second time in the past three seasons, capping a distinguished four-year career with the Windsor Spitfires. The Nashville Predators first round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Ellis led all defensemen in scoring and finished tied for fourth overall in the OHL with 101 points in 58 games, scoring 24 goals and 77 assists.  He became the first defenseman to score 100 points in a season since Jamie Rivers of the Sudbury Wolves recorded 121 points in the1993-94 campaign.

The Freelton, ON native established new career highs in goals, assists and points this season and finished his Spitfires’ career with 314 points (73g-241a), becoming just the third d-man in OHL history to record 300 points. Ellis won was also the league’s defenseman of the year in 2009 and guided Windsor to back-to-back Memorial Cup titles in 2009 and 2010. He also captained Team Canada to the silver medal in last year’s World Junior Championships, setting a new tournament record for a defenseman with 25 points and garnering WJC honors as the top blueliner.

Ellis and the Admirals will begin the West Division Finals against the Houston Aeros on Friday night at 7:00 pm at the Bradley Center.  Fans can purchase tickets by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or logging on to milwaukeeadmirals.com, while fans looking for playoff packages, group tickets or more information should call the Admirals office at (414) 227-0550. Don’t forget to follow the Admirals on Twitter (@mkeadmirals) and on Facebook!

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass